Actor Dileep seeks anticipatory bail after Kerala police file fresh FIR in 2017 case

Actor Dileep has applied for anticipatory bail in a new case registered against him by the crime branch of the Kerala police for allegedly threatening officers investigating the 2017 case in which he is accused of conspiring to abduct and assault an actress.

Dileep's brother Anoop and brother-in-law Sooraj are among the five others who have applied for anticipatory bail in the new case.

The police registered the case after director Balachandra Kumar's revelations before a magistrate last week. Balachandra alleged that the actor possessed visuals of the assault on the actress and was influencing the investigative officers in the case.

There have also been reports of audio clips of the actor threatening the officers. In the wake of these revelations, the assault victim wrote to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting him to look into the case.

Following this, the actor and five others have been charged under non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code with conspiracy and issuing threats to police officers.

According to the legal news website Livelaw.in, the actor and his accomplices have been booked under sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 506 (criminal intimidation), 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with 34 (common intention).

The website of India Today magazine reported that in his petition for anticipatory bail, Dileep claimed the case had been registered on the basis of fabricated evidence and the police were involved in a conspiracy.

The victim also shared a detailed statement declaring her intention 'to see justice prevail'. Her statement was shared widely by several members of the Malayalam film fraternity as well as the Women in Cinema Collective.

In her statement, the actress said, "To see justice prevail, to get wrongdoers punished and to ensure no one else goes through such an ordeal again, I shall continue this journey." 

She added, "For five years now, my name and my identity have been suppressed under the weight of the assault inflicted on me. Though I am not the one who has committed the crime, there have been many attempts to humiliate, silence and isolate me. But at such times I have had some who stepped forward to keep my voice alive. Now when I hear so many voices speak up for me I know that I am not alone in this fight for justice." 

The Women in Cinema Collective has been sharing several images questioning the progress of the case. The collective was established in 2017 in response to the shocking incident. Several members of the collective and actresses across the Malayalam film industry have been questioning the slow progress in the case.

In 2020, several female members of the Malayalam film industry had questioned the investigation and the damage being caused by the delay, after several key witnesses turned hostile.

The case was filed after an assault on the actress in a moving vehicle in February 2017. Dileep was named as one of the main conspirators in the case and spent several weeks in jail during the investigation.