Kerala actor Dileep gets interim protection from arrest in sex assault case

The Kerala High Court on Saturday granted interim protection to actor Dileep from arrest but directed him and other accused to appear before the investigating officers on January 23, 24 and 25 for interrogation.

The court was hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Dileep in a case registered against him and five others for allegedly threatening the officers investigating the sexual assault of an actress in 2017. 

Justice Gopinath P directed the accused to fully cooperate with the investigation and directed them to be available for interrogation from 9am to 8pm on the three days.

The court also directed the public prosecutor to submit a report on the interrogation and material evidence in a sealed cover on January 27, when the matter would be heard again.

Besides Dileep, his younger brother P Sivakumar and brother-in-law T N Suraj have moved the court seeking the same relief. 

The Crime Branch had, on January 9, registered the case on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio clip of Dileep, which was released by a TV channel, in which the actor was allegedly heard conspiring to attack the official. 

The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the IPC, including Sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people).

Dileep has claimed that this apprehension was borne out of the past conduct of the complainant officer who has been trying to falsely implicate him in the sexual assault case.

The actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of 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 some of the accused to blackmail the actress. There are 10 accused in the case and initially, the police arrested seven people. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail later.