On December 8, a Sessions court in Ernakulam, Kerala, will pronounce the verdict in the case of a well-known south Indian actor who was sexually assaulted in Kochi in 2017. The trial has reached its denouement after eight years of twists and turns, amid intense media scrutiny and industry-wide debate about gender, power, and accountability.
On February 17, 2017, the woman actor was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving car in Kochi, an attack that was allegedly orchestrated by her industry colleague, Dileep, one of Malayalam cinema’s most prominent actors.
The case has since seen multiple arrests, a complex investigation, hundreds of witness testimonies, and repeated petitions over access to and verification of digital evidence.
For those trying to make sense of nearly a decade of developments, this explainer walks through the crime, the investigation, the trial, and the broader implications for Kerala’s film industry.
The crime
The woman actor was abducted by six men when she was travelling from her house in Thrissur to a film-related engagement in Kochi on the night of February 17, 2017. She was held captive inside her own car and sexually assaulted by a man named Pulsar Suni, a history sheeter. He also recorded the assault on a mobile phone. After two hours, she was dropped near the home of a movie director, who helped her contact the police.
A case was registered the same day, and an investigation began.
Within days, Pulsar Suni, who surrendered to the police, was named the prime accused. Several others accused were arrested.
Initial statements and forensic material indicated that the assault was recorded to be used for blackmail, not by Suni, but by someone else. Suni had told the survivor during the car ride that he was acting on a ‘quotation’ or contract.
Investigators soon found that the attack was not an isolated crime but part of a broader conspiracy aimed at intimidating and humiliating the survivor.
Through statements, phone records, and alleged links between several accused, the probe expanded and ultimately led to the arrest of actor Dileep on July 10, 2017.
Dileep was added as the eighth accused and booked for criminal conspiracy, abduction, and gang rape, along with various offences under the Information Technology Act.
Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh VP, Salim H alias Vadival Salim, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep and Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil (41), were charged under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 366 (kidnapping), 376D (gang rape), and others.
Additionally, advocate Pratheesh Chacko and his assistant Raju were named as accused 11 and 12 in supplementary chargesheets for harbouring a fugitive and destruction of evidence. The prosecution has also invoked sections of the Information Technology Act, 2008, related to the illegal capture and distribution of visuals of the assault.
Why Dileep?
Early on in the investigation, a relative of the survivor had said that the only person who held a grudge against her was actor Dileep and had scuttled her roles in the industry for many years.
But this wasn’t enough to make an arrest.
A few weeks later, a letter written by Pulsar Suni to Dileep was leaked. In the letter, Sunil asked Dileep for his payment. This led to Dileep and several others in the industry being questioned.
Finally, the police zeroed in on the alleged motive. In 2012, Dileep was married to actor Manju Warrier but was having an affair with another popular actor, Kavya Madhavan. Though Manju suspected the affair, no one would confirm it. Then, Manju and her friends asked the survivor to tell them the truth. The survivor was close to both Kavya and Dileep.
This ‘betrayal’ angered Dileep, Manju and others told the police. Manju and Dileep divorced in 2015 and Dileep married Kavya in 2016.
According to the police, Dileep had decided on a plan to avenge this ‘betrayal’, but he waited till 2017 to execute it—when the survivor was about to get engaged.
Dileep’s arrest had an enormous impact. After the initial shock, public debate intensified, dividing the Malayalam film industry and audiences between supporters of the survivor and those backing Dileep. In October 2017, after spending 85 days in judicial custody, Dileep was granted conditional bail.
The trial and resignations
Dileep filed multiple petitions between 2018 and 2019 seeking access to the visuals of the assault. The Kerala High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court rejected his request.
In 2019, trial court judge Honey M Varghese was appointed to the Additional Special Sessions Court, Ernakulam, after the survivor sought a female judicial officer for the case.
Once the trial began, however, the judge and the prosecution were frequently at loggerheads. The prosecution alleged that the judge was biased, slut-shaming the victim and not recording their witnesses.
Between 2020 and 2021, two special public prosecutors quit the case. At one point, Judge Honey Varghese referred to the prosecution as prostitution, according to a petition filed in court.
The survivor, who had asked for a female judge, went to court multiple times, asking for the case to be transferred out of Judge Honey Varghese’s court. All the pleas were rejected.
Delays, petitions and controversies
The trial began on January 30, 2020, with hundreds of witnesses being examined and forensic reports reviewed.
But some crucial witnesses from the Malayalam industry who had claimed to be aware of Dileep’s anger towards the survivor turned hostile. This included the survivor’s close friend, actor Bhama.
In 2021, the prosecution’s case appeared to be weakening in the face of hostile witnesses. Around this time, a small-time film director called Balachandrakumar came forward with an alarming revelation.
The director, who claimed he was close to Dileep, had recorded several conversations in Dileep’s house. One such conversation indicated that Dileep had a copy of the sexual assault visual.
With Balachandrakumar, new witnesses emerged. A makeup artist told the court that Pulsar Suni had worked as Kavya’s driver.
By 2022, the investigation had expanded to include allegations that Dileep had conspired to intimidate officials investigating the case, prompting a separate FIR.
The police found a note on Dileep’s brother’s phone, which gave an elaborate description of the assault. The prosecution contended that such a detailed description could not have been written down by Dileep or his lawyers, as the court had officially shown them the visuals only twice. Then they submitted CDR (Call Detail Records), which put Dileep’s driver, Appunni, in the vicinity of where the abduction took place.
In 2024, Pulsar Suni, who had been in custody since 2017, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 17, citing the extensive delays in the trial.
Meanwhile, the tense atmosphere in the courtroom continued, as there were no signs of the hostility between the judge and the prosecution abating. The State and the survivor approached the higher courts seeking a change of court for the trial, but their pleas were dismissed.
To further vitiate the proceedings, a forensic report revealed that the memory card holding the visuals of the assault and in the custody of the court was accessed illegally. Though Judge Varghese had received the report, she had concealed the information.
Following this, the Kerala High Court ordered a probe. The investigation revealed that three court employees, including a magistrate and an official in Judge Varghese’s court, had accessed the memory card. No action was ever taken against the involved judicial officers. But a Malayalam media house that exposed it was slapped with contempt cases.
The final arguments were concluded in February 2025, but the judge sought clarifications till November. At the same time, Pulsar Suni’s lawyer wanted to watch the visuals again, and he, along with the judge and the Special Public Prosecutor, watched it on November 21.
Other impacts
The case had significant repercussions across the Malayalam film industry, bringing long-standing structural issues to the forefront. For many outside Kerala, the industry is known for its critically acclaimed films and strong artistic legacy, but the assault case exposed deep concerns regarding workplace culture, power hierarchies and the challenges faced by women in the sector. The survivor’s experience and the backlash she faced highlighted the lack of institutional mechanisms to report harassment or seek redress.
In 2017, a group of prominent women actors formed the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), demanding systemic reform and accountability. The case also triggered public debate about the treatment of women within film unions, casting practices and the influence wielded by senior male actors and producers.
Amid mounting pressure, the Kerala government constituted the Hema Committee in 2019 to study the working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry.
The committee collected testimonies from over 300 individuals, including women actors, technicians, and industry professionals, who described experiences of discrimination, harassment, and lack of grievance mechanisms. Although the committee submitted its findings the same year, the report was withheld from the public for nearly five years.
The report was finally released on August 19, 2024, after the Kerala High Court declined to stay its publication. The version made public was heavily redacted to protect the privacy of those who testified, with names and identifying details removed.
Despite the redactions, the report generated significant conversations, encouraging many women to speak openly about their experiences and prompting another wave of allegations within the industry. The report also renewed discussions about safety guidelines, union reforms and regulatory frameworks to protect women working in Malayalam cinema.