Explainer: All We Know About The 2017 Malayalam Actor S*xual Assault Case

Actor Dileep has been acquitted in the case. Read here for more about it.

In 2017, the brutal kidnapping and assault of a well-known Malayalam actor sent shockwaves across the country. Dileep, the alleged mastermind behind the case, was arrested after the investigation, along with some other accused. However, in the recent judgment, the court did not find Dileep guilty and acquitted him. This judgment did not sit well with many in the industry, and the state government has also said it would challenge it. Read here for more.

What Was The Judgement?

The judgement on the s*xual assault case of a known Malayalam actor was passed by the court, and among the 10 held for the crime, the Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese only held 6 of the guilty for the abducting, r*pe, a and conspiracy, as per an NDTV article. The men held guilty are Marting Antony, B Manikandan, Pulsar Suni, H Saleem, C Pradeep and VP Vijeesh. According to the reports, the punishment for these crimes will be pronounced by the court on Friday. However, the court did not find 4 people guilty in the case based on the evidences that were submitted. Among them is Dileep has also been acquitted. However, there is a lot of backlash on this judgement as Dileep was accused on being the mastermind of this shameful crime.

What Was The Case?

In 2017, a popular Malayalam actor was coming back to Kochi from Thrissur. As per her allegations, a car collided with her vehicle, and the two men inside the other car came out and threatened the actor’s driver. They asked him to drive towards Kochi. As per the victim’s statement, she was held hostage for two hours and was assaulted in a moving car. They also took pictures and videos of the crime to later blackmail the actor, as per the report. The prime accused in the matter was Pulsar Suni.

Later one of the popular actors in the industry Dileep also was accused of being a conspirator of this crime. He was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for several hours. As per the news reports, Dileep’s alleged motive behind this crime was said to be revenge against the victim as she had allegedly told his wife Manju Warrier about his extramarital affairs. In July, 2017, Dileep was arrested but he received a bail after three months in custody. He also kept denying the allegations. In 2022, he was also accused of tampering with the evidence. However, many witnesses took back their statements that made the case weak.

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After this horrifying case, a group known as the Women in Cinema Collective was also setup. The primary motive of the committee was to bring gender-balance in the industry and fight the deeply rooted misogyny. The Kerala Government also setup the Hema Committee later, that focused on the all the s*xual assault allegations on some popular names in the industry.

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We just hope the victim is given justice in the matter.

Feature Image Courtesy: Twitter

First Published: December 09, 2025 12:39 PM