Kerala Court has sentenced 6 culprits to 20 years in jail in the Malayalam actress kidnapping and sexual harassment case. A fine of Rs 20,000 each has also been imposed. Actor Dilip was earlier acquitted in this case.
Kochi: In the case of kidnapping and sexual assault of a famous Malayalam actress who has worked in films of many languages including Kannada, the Kerala Court has sentenced all the six accused to 20 years in jail. In this case, famous actor Dilip was acquitted by the court a few days ago. Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese sentenced the culprits. Along with this, the court said that everyone will also have to pay a fine of Rs 20 thousand. The first accused in this case is N.S. Sunil (Pulsar Suni), second accused Martin Antony, third accused B. Manikandan, fourth accused V.P. Vijeesh, the fifth accused is H. Salim and the sixth accused is Pradeep. If the fine of Rs 50,000 is not paid, he will have to remain in jail for one more year.
It has been said in the decision that out of the fine amount, Rs 5 lakh should be given to the victim. The first accused Sunil has been sentenced to additional 5 years in jail under the IT Act. However, this sentence will run concurrently with 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. All the accused will be sent to Viyyur jail. If they want to change the jail, they will have to submit a separate application. The remand period of the accused has also been reduced from the sentence.
Video Keep it safe, give her engagement ring back
The court has ordered that the copy of the pen drive containing the video related to the incident should be kept in the safe custody of the investigating officer Baiju Paulose. The court said that the engagement ring of the victim actress should be returned. The ring that was part of the engagement should be returned to her. On the day of the gang rape, the accused had made the video in such a way that the wedding ring was visible.
Lawyers had demanded life imprisonment
The prosecution had sought life imprisonment, but the sentence was commuted to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. After a day of emotional waiting and arguments, the court sentenced the accused. Although the court had announced the verdict at 3:30 pm, due to technical delay in printing the copy of the verdict, the verdict was pronounced at around 4:45 pm. The court said in its decision that the age of the accused was also considered and all the accused are below 40 years of age.
Also, the court said in its decision that the victim woman was deeply shocked. Apart from the main accused in this case, other accused are P. Gopalakrishnan (Dileep), Charlie Thomas, Sanil Kumar and G. Sharath has been acquitted by the court. The prosecution could not prove the allegations of conspiracy against actor Dilip.
Pulsar Suni will now have to serve only 12.5 years of imprisonment.
The first accused, Pulsar Suni, has already spent 7.5 years in jail as an undertrial, so he will have to serve the remaining 12.5 years of his sentence. The second accused Martin will have to remain in jail for 13.5 more years. The remaining four accused will still have to serve 15 years of imprisonment. All the 6 accused will be immediately shifted to Viyyur Central Jail. Meanwhile, after hearing the verdict, the second accused Martin and the sixth accused Pradeep cried in the court premises.