2017 Actress Assault Case: Survivor Moves Kerala High Court Seeking Fresh, Comprehensive Probe Into 'Memory Card Leak'

The survivor of the 2017 Actress Assault case has moved the Kerala High Court seeking a fresh, comprehensive and court-monitored probe into the alleged illegal access of the memory card which contained visuals of the assault.

Notably, last year the trial court had acquitted actor Dileep an accused in the case, while finding six others guilty.

The case refers to the abduction and sexual assault of an actress in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Cochin city that occurred on February 17, 2017. The accused persons had also taken videos of the assault and copied into a memory card, which was produced before the Magistrate Court, Aluva by one of the accused, who was later discharged. 

"That during the course of the trial the Petitioner suffered an egregious violation of her privacy and dignity, as it was found by forensic experts at SFSL, Thiruvananthapuram, that memory card containing the video recordings of the gang rape was illegally accessed on three separate occasions while it was in custody of various courts. Further, the possibility of copying and transmission was not ruled out," states the plea.

The petitioner states that the illegal access of the memory card has affected her right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution as well as eroded her faith in the justice delivery system.

In the plea, the petitioner has sought for a direction to constitute a Special Investigation Team with at-least one member with expertise in cyber / digital forensic and to conduct a time bound, effective, fair and comprehensive inquiry or investigation into the unauthorized and illegal access made to the memory card.

The petitioner has also sought for an investigation into the possible copying and transmission of the video recordings of the crime.

The plea also challenges the enquiry report of the District and Sessions Judge that was made as per the directions of the High Court. As per the enquiry report, the three times the memory card was accessed were found to be done by the Magistrate court, the senior clerk of the Sessions Court and another court clerk.

In December last year, the trial court had convicted accused Nos. 1 to 6– Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), B Manikandan (A3), V.P. Vijeesh (A4), H. Saleem (A5), C. Pradeep (A 6)–for offences section 120 B(criminal conspiracy), 340(wrongful confinement), 354(Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 366(kidnapping), 354B(Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 376D (gang rape) IPC.

They were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for gang rape, with additional concurrent sentences for allied offences. The trial court, however, acquitted actor Dileep, who was accused to have masterminded the incident.

Presently, the convicts have moved appeals before the High Court challenging their conviction and sentences. The State has filed a separate appeal challenging the acquittal of Dileep and seeking enhancement of punishment for the convicts.

The petition is moved by Advocates Bhadra Kumari K.V., Vrinda Grover, Rhuthunanda S. B., Arunima.T.S., Byja E.G.

Case No: WP(Crl.) 871/2026

Case Title: XXX v. State of Kerala and Ors.