A friend and the lawyer of the young woman who has accused Thrissur School of Drama dean Sunilkumar of rape have alleged that the police deliberately delayed filing an FIR in the case. Sunilkumar allegedly sexually assaulted the 22-year-old suvivor, who is a first-year student of the School of Drama, on January 21, 2022. She approached the police a little over a month later, fearing repercussions given the authority that Sunilkumar held over her. Police arrested the accused on March 1, a day after his suspension from the post of dean was announced.
There are two FIRs filed by Thrissur West police - on February 25 and February 27 - based on the complaints by survivor. In the first one, Sunilkumar and a guest lecturer Raja Variar have been booked under section 354 and 354A of the IPC (sexual harassment charges). The survivor had told TNM earlier that Raja Variar had misbehaved with her by hitting her hand during a class and said she had complained about it to other faculty, including Sunilkumar. The second complaint accuses Sunilkumar of raping the survivor when she was living at his residence along with this partner due to hostel facilities being unavailable.
"When we went to the police station to file a second complaint with more details on February 26, we had a very bad experience. The Thrissur West Police Station Sub-Inspector Baiju was not ready to read the complaint fully. When we contacted the police through other sources, the police claimed that they did not get a complaint. Even after 48 hours they did not take any action," said Kalyani, a student of the institute and the survivor’s friend, who is also leading the protests seeking justice for the survivor, in a Facebook video..
Asha Unnithan, the survivor's lawyer, alleged that the police were trying to close the case with just the first FIR. "Initially they were hesitant to include the rape charges. They questioned the complainant about why she hadn’t disclosed the rape in the earlier complaint, without considering the fact that there is a huge power differential between the accused and the survivor. The survivor broke down while being questioned by the police. But when we stepped in and I spoke with them, they filed an FIR. After that, their actions were fast and they made the arrest," she said.