Kochi: The High Court on Monday has declined to defer the commencement of the trial of the case connected with the abduction and sexual assault of a woman actor at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court. The court made the observation in a petition filed by actor Dileep to defer the trial and seeking the visuals of the attack against the woman actor. The petition of Dileep has pointed out that as an accused in the case he is legally entitled to have copies all evidences submitted by the prosecution in the case.
Although the prosecution has submitted copies of telephone records and other documents connected with the case to Dileep, the visuals of the attack against the actor were been given on the ground that it would be prejudicial to the privacy of the woman. The prosecution has sought more time to file its response and the court has posted the case for further hearing on next Monday. The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has directed Dlieep and other accused in the case to be present in the court on Wednesday marking the beginning of the trial in the case.
A local court in Chalakuddy has earlier rejected the petition by Dileep seeking the visuals of the attack on the ground that it would be detrimental to the interests of the victim of the attack. Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, has spent 85 days in judicial custody after he was arrested in the case by the special investigation team that probed the case. Earlier, the Angamaly First Class Judicial Magistrate had accepted the supplementary chargesheet submitted by the Special Investigation Team in the case. It then handed over the case to the Principal Sessions Court, considering the gravity of the case. As per the additional chargesheet, Dileep had conspired with main accused Sunil Kumar aka Pulsar Suni to commit the crime on February 17 last year. The SIT enlisted over 355 witnesses in the case including Dileep’s ex-wife Manju Warrier and wife Kavya Madhavan.
