Trial in Kerala actor abduction case to start on March 14

The trial in the infamous actor abduction case will begin at an Ernakulam district sessions court on March 14, in which superstar Dileep is the 11th accused of the 12 accused.

Police sources said the police will soon move a petition for trial of the case in the court of a woman presiding officer due to the sensitivities involved. A summons notice was sent to Dileep and the other accused in the case. 

Dileep was arrested after two rounds of questioning on July 10, 2017, for his alleged role in the conspiracy hatched for the abduction of the popular young actor. Dileep's former wife Manju Warrier is one of the witnesses in the case.

The actor was was thrown out of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) a day after he was arrested in July.

Kavya Madhavan, Dileep's wife and actor, was also questioned by the police team in regard with the incident.

The prime accused in the case, Pulsur Suni, had earlier told the police that a memory card that purportedly contained the obscene images of the victim was kept at the office of Laksyah, the online clothing firm run by Kavya Madhavan.

Dileep spent 85 days in judicial custody and was granted bail in October after the actor’s bail plea was turned down by the court four times.

The actor was abducted on February 17, 2017, while she was on way to Kochi from Thrissur. Pulsar Suni drove her around for two hours before she was dropped near the home of director-actor Lal.

In the wake of the incident the Women in Cinema Collective was formed by women actors, directors and technicians from the Malayalam film industry to highlight the gender disparity that they face.

Prominent names like Manju Warrier, Parvathy, Bhavana, Anjali Menon, Geethu Mohan Das, Vidhu Vincent, Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambeesan, Didi Damodaran, Surabhi Lakshmi had come together to represent their similar interests.