(Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual assault)
The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) issued a statement on Twitter inquiring whether the Kerala police is looking into Balachandrakumar’s statement in the Malayalam actor sexual assault case. WCC wrote, “Is the law and order machinery of our state looking into this key testimony from Mr Balachandra Kumar which came out in the media recently?”
They additionally asked, “Do the actions alleged in the interview, amount to illegal actions like bribery and/or intimidation of crucial witnesses? Is the person’s request for police protection from threats to his life being considered and offered to him?”
“Why are the majority of mainstream media not giving these developments adequate attention and looking for truth in this matter? Time and again, in this excruciating fight for justice, many such questions need to be asked and answered to learn the truth. #Avalkoppam,” the WCC’s statement concluded.
Balachandrakumar, who claims to be a friend of actor Dileep, alleged that he saw the main accused in the case, ‘Pulsar’ Suni’ at Dileep’s house. In an interview with Reporter Live, Balachandrakumar alleged that Dileep had a video of the sexual assault even before it was produced in court.
The News Minute reported that Balachandrakumar and Dileep’s brother went out to get some food and Dileep had asked his brother Anoop to drop off a man on the way.
Balachandrakumar claims that the man introduced himself as ‘Pulsar’ Suni. He alleged that Anoop and Suni had a conversation about a large sum of money. He also alleged that Dileep asked him to not mention the incident several times.
In February 2017, ‘Pulsar’ Suni and others were arrested in the case involving the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a female actor that month in a moving vehicle. In July, actor Dileep was arrested by the Aluva police in the case and the charge sheet alleged that the actor had paid Suni to commit the crime and record visuals of it.
Lawyer EC Pouluse had submitted a phone and memory card to the Angamaly Magistrate court in February. He had received the devices from Suni and they allegedly contained the visuals of the assault. The visuals were shown to Dileep and his lawyers in December 2017.
The next month, Dileep’s lawyers filed a petition denying the allegations against Dileep and claiming that the video proved the case was false. The petition reportedly contained sentences from the video. The News Minute reported that the prosecution argued that the audio in the visuals wasn’t great and questioned how Dileep and his lawyers heard the sentences.
Balachandrakumar has also alleged that a VIP guest at Dileep's house had had the audio in the visuals enhanced in a professional studio.
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