SPP appearing for victim in actress sexual assault case undertood to have resigned

The Special Public Prosecutor A Suresan is understood to have written to the state home department, seeking to relieve him from the post. The development comes days after the Kerala High Court declined to transfer the trial in the case of sexual assault of the actress, in which popular Malayalam actor Dileep is among the accused, from the present court.

The Special Public Prosecutor appearing for the victim in the case of sexual assault of an actress here in 2017 is understood to have tendered his resignation from the post. The Special Public Prosecutor A Suresan is understood to have written to the state home department, seeking to relieve him from the post.

The development comes days after the Kerala High Court declined to transfer the trial in the case of sexual assault of the actress, in which popular Malayalam actor Dileep is among the accused, from the present court. The High Court on Friday had rejected petitions filed by the actress and the state government, seeking to transfer the trial from the the CBI special court Judge-III, Ernakulam.

The court had said that unless the trial court and the prosecutor work in sync, it will result in either the guilty escaping from the clutches of law or the innocent being punished. The Supreme Court has directed the trial court to dispose of the case on or before February 4, 2021.

In her plea, the actress had alleged she was aggrieved by the biased and hostile attitude of the trial court and that it sat like a mute spectator when she was being examined and harassed by the counsel for Dileep. She had said it failed to restrict the number of lawyers for the accused present in the court hall when she was being examined and also to uphold the spirit of in-camera trial.

Endorsing the charges levelled by her, the state government had also sought transfer of the case to another court. The actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films,was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.

The entire act was filmed by the accused to blackmail the actress. There are 10 accused in the case and initially, seven of them were arrested.

Dileep was arrested subsequently and let out on bail later. In April this year, the high court had allowed a petition by the actress,seeking appointment of a woman judge to conduct the trial and ordered CBI special court Judge- III Ernakulam to complete the in-cameral trial expeditiously.

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