Who Is Dileep? Malayalam Actor Walks Free In 2017 Assault Case After Years Long Court Battle And Scrutiny

Malayalam actor Dileep was ruled not guilty by a Kerala court on Monday in the 2017 actress assault case after the prosecution was unable to establish his involvement in the alleged criminal conspiracy. However, the court found six other defendants guilty of gang rape, criminal conspiracy, abduction, assault to outrage modesty, wrongful imprisonment and attempt to disrobe. Following the verdict, actor Dileep praised his supporters throughout the previous nine years and said that the case against him was the result of a 'criminal conspiracy', which was initially brought to light by his ex-wife, actress Manju Warrier.

Who Is Malayalam Actor Dileep?

Dileep is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. The actor born as Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan has appeared in more than 150 movies and received numerous honours, including a Filmfare Awards South and four Kerala State Film Awards.

On the personal front, Dileep married actress Manju Warrier on October 20, 1998. They welcomed their daughter, Meenakshi in 2000. The couple filed for divorce in July 2014, and it was approved on January 31, 2015. Dileep later married actress Kavya Madhavan on November 25, 2016.

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What Was The 2017 Assault Case?

A group of men abducted the actress, who has experience in both the Malayalam and Tamil cinema industries, and sexually assaulted her for two hours in her car before escaping on the evening of February 17, 2017.

Pulsar Suni, also known as Sunil NS, was identified by investigators as the main attacker. In addition to him, several persons were put on trial under harsh IPC provisions, including Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh VP, Salim H (also known as Vadival Salim), Pradeep, Charly Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and G Sarath. Criminal conspiracy and abetment, kidnapping, rape, violence, intimidation, and evidence destruction were among the charges.

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Dileep was charged with planning the attack, and the prosecution claimed that the crime was a part of a criminal conspiracy. He was additionally charged with evidence destruction by the prosecution in October. But the actor never wavered in his denial of guilt. A total of 261 witnesses, including well-known movie stars, were questioned.

However, Dileep now is no longer facing legal proceedings after the court ruled in his favour, but the attention is far from going away. The public's and industry's reactions to the verdict have been conflicting.