UDF convenor says actor Dileep got justice, Congress terms it his personal view

Pathanamthitta: The Congress on Tuesday said that UDF convenor Adoor Prakash's remark that Malayalam cinema star Dileep, who was acquitted in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, "got justice" was his personal view.

The grand old party also said it stood with the survivor.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and party colleague Uma Thomas were of the view that the prosecution should go in appeal as it failed to establish the conspiracy behind the 2017 case.

The UDF convenor, after voting in the local body poll at Adoor here, told reporters that while the opposition was with the victim woman, "everyone should get justice".

He said that according to him, Dileep has got justice in the case.

His comment was termed as a "personal view" by Chennithala, who contended that the party and UDF were with the victim-survivor in the case.

Thomas said that while she has not read the judgement, she was not satisfied with the verdict.

She said that the prosecution failed to establish the conspiracy angle and therefore, it should go in appeal.

Satheesan said that as the prosecution was only able to partially prove its case, it should and will go in appeal.

The opposition leader said that he will not comment on the verdict till he reads it.

State Culture Affairs Minister Saji Cherian said that the victim got justice with regard to the crime committed against her.

However, according to the court, the prosecution was unable to prove the conspiracy and therefore, it will appeal against the verdict.

He, at the same time, made it clear that the appeal was not meant to give a good or bad certificate to anyone, but to ensure that the prosecution can prove its entire case.

Besides Dileep, the trial court acquitted three others, including the actor's close friend Sarath.

After the verdict, Dileep, whose real name is P Gopalakrishnan, claimed there was a "real conspiracy" by some police officials and a section of media to implicate him in the case earlier with an eye on destroying his career.

The court on Monday convicted Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, and Pradeep -- the first six accused in the case.

Pulsar Suni was the prime accused who directly committed the crime.

The court is expected to hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence on December 12.

The assault on the multi-lingual actress after the miscreants forced their way into the car she was travelling in and kept it under their control for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.

According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.