Trial of actor rape case in troubled waters

Uncertainty looms large over the trial in the actor rape case, with the prosecution unlikely to resume its arguments before the Special Judge after the Kerala High Court rejecting its plea for a change of court. The crisis has deepened with the trial court initiating steps to restart the trial from Monday. The trial, which was being held before Honey M. Varghese, the Special Judge, had been put on hold for over a fortnight after the prosecution and the survivor approached the High Court against the trial court.

“There is no change in the stand of the prosecution as the issues raised against the court were not addressed in the order passed by the single judge of the High Court. Options of filing an appeal in the Division Bench or the Supreme Court against the single judge’s order remain open and a decision will be taken shortly,” prosecution sources indicated. It will be suicidal for the prosecution to conduct the trial before the Special Judge as the key legal issues raised against the court remain unattended, sources said.

Actor Dileep is the eighth accused in the case in which a woman actor was abducted and sexually molested in a moving car. Dileep has been accused of conspiracy in the case.