High Court Denies Bail To Prime Accused In Kerala Actress Assault Case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday denied bail to the prime accused in the 2017 actress assault case in which actor Dileep is also an accused.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan denied the relief to Sunil NS, also known as 'Pulsar Suni', who is the main accused in the case, saying "this is not a fit case in which the petitioner can be released on bail, at this stage".

The court also said that according to the prosecution the trial of the case was at the fag end and moreover, a further investigation was also on.

It further said that since one of the grounds mentioned in the bail application was a threat to the life of the accused-petitioner, "if there is any such threat, jail authorities will do the needful".

"That is not grounds to release the petitioner on bail. Similarly, in a serious case like this, in which there are specific allegations against the petitioner, it is not appropriate to release the petitioner on bail. It will convey a wrong signal to society. In such circumstances, I think the petitioner is not entitled to bail pending trial. Therefore, this bail application is dismissed," the judge said.

The actress-victim, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some people who had 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 those people to blackmail the actress.

There are 10 accused in the 2017 case and police have arrested seven. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail.