Dileep acquitted in Kerala actor rape case

Actor Dileep, an accused in the sensational Kerala actor rape case, can walk free as a trial court in Kochi has acquitted him of all the criminal charges levelled against him.

Honey M. Varghese, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge, on Monday (December 8, 2025) acquitted Mr. Dileep of the offences charged against him in the case after the trial that lasted around eight years. Mr. Dileep was the eighth accused.

The court, however, finds accused from no. 1 to no. 6 guilty. The court will pronounce the punishment on December 12.

The accused in the case were the first accused, N.S. Sunil, alias ‘Pulsur Suni’, the second accused, Martin Antony, third accused B. Manikandan, fourth accused V. P. Vijeesh, fifth accused H. Salim alias Vadiwal Salim, sixth accused Pradeep, seventh accused Charlie Thomas, ninth accused Sanil Kumar, alias Mestri Sanil, and the fifteenth accused, Sarath Nair.

Charlie Thomas was accused of harbouring some of the accused after the commission of the crime. The charge against the ninth accused, Sanil, was that he conspired with Pulsur Sunil in jail to extort money by threatening Dileep. The 15th accused Sarath, a friend of Mr. Dileep, was made an accused in the second chargesheet. He was tried for the alleged offence of handing over and destroying the alleged video footage of the actor.) Vishnu, Vipinlal and Aneesh, the other three accused, had turned approvers in the case.

The charges levelled against the first six accused and Mr. Dileep included gang rape, criminal conspiracy, outraging the modesty of a woman, wrongful confinement, use of criminal force, destruction of evidence, taking and distributing obscene images.

The court premises as well as the court hall were packed with lawyers, mediapersons and friends and relatives of the accused. All the accused were asked to be present in the court hall to hear the verdict.