In State of Kerala v. Sunil N.S. @ Pulsar Suni and Ors [SC 118 of 2018], the Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court on December 12, 2025 acquitted the Malayalam actor Dileep in the much deliberated 2017 actress assault case.
No Valid Prosecution Evidence to Establish Conspiracy
The reason for the acquittal is that the prosecution failed to prove the criminal conspiracy charges against the actor Dileep beyond a reasonable doubt. The court pointed out that there was no legally sustainable evidence on the part of the prosecution to establish that Dileep conspired with the perpetrators or orchestrated the sexual assault.
What was the Prosecution Case?
Essentially, the prosecution’s case was that on the night of February 17, 2017, a leading Malayalam actress was abducted and sexually assaulted inside a car for almost two hours while travelling to Kochi. The accused allegedly recorded videos of the assault and sexual harassment amounting to rape to blackmail or denigrate the survivor later.
Ten accused faced trial on charges such as criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, sexual assault, gang rape, destroying evidence, and other offences under the IPC and IT Act. Dileep faced an additional charge linked to the destruction of evidence.
Several Controversies Surfaced During the Trial
The trial became one of the longest-running cases in Kerala’s recent history. The trial lasted around eight years. There were several controversies. The prosecution and the Victim accused the trial judge of bias. Two Special Public Prosecutors had quit the case but the third Prosecutor carried out the case till its judgment.
Prosecution Produced Numerous Witnesses and Documents
A total of 261 witnesses, including some well-known cine actors, were examined. The investigation officer alone was questioned for 109 days. The court accepted 834 documents as evidence and examined two defence witnesses. Several prosecution witnesses turned hostile in the court.
Acquittal Was due to Failure in Proving Conspiracy
Ultimately, after reviewing all the evidence, the court concluded that the prosecution proved the case of gang rape by the six accused but the conspiracy angle involving Dileep was not convincingly proven and hence acquitted the remaining four accused persons including Dileep, the 8th accused.
Reference
The 1714 page judgment in State of Kerala v. Sunil N.S. @ Pulsar Suni and Ors dated 12th December 2025 [SC 118 of 2018]
