After examining the controversial visuals in the Kerala actor assault case, Dileep who is accused of masterminding the crime, submitted a petition in court on Friday seeking to be discharged from the case. This as he claimed that the visuals are not authentic.
The visuals of the attack were allegedly recorded by the other accused persons in the case and is believed to be one of the main pieces of evidence. After examining the visuals yet again, in the presence of an expert, Dileep claimed that the visuals have been edited and tampered, reports Media One. Dileep has reportedly cited ‘lack of authenticity’ of the visuals as the reason for submitting the petition and that, prima facie, the case is not sustainable.
Dileep is the eighth accused in the case. The court will consider his discharge plea on December 31.
It was a week ago that Dileep examined the controversial visuals in the case, following a Supreme Court order. Though he had demanded that a copy of the visuals be given to him, the apex court had rejected it and only allowed him to examine the visuals in the presence of an expert.
Five other accused persons and their advocates had also examined the visuals last week. Though initially it was only Dileep who demanded examination of the visuals, following the Supreme Court, the other accused also approached the trial court with the same request. The pre-trial proceedings of the case is being held at the Additional Special Sessions Court in Ernakulam.
If the trial court rejects Dileep’s plea, he can appeal in the High Court and Supreme Court, which will further delay the trial proceedings of the case. SC has ordered that the trial of the case should be completed within six months.
Dileep has been accused of delaying trial proceedings. He dragged the case to the Supreme Court in December 2018 with a petition to get a copy of the memory card visuals when he had examined the visuals twice earlier.
This move had delayed the commencement of trial by about six months as the apex court then stayed the proceedings in the case. It was only last month that the SC rejected Dileep’s plea to get a copy of the visuals but instead allowed him to examine it in the presence of the trial court, further stalling trial proceedings.
It was on February 2017 that a leading Malayalam female actor was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving vehicle in Kochi.
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