In the Kerala actress assault case, Judge Honey Varghese warned that tarnishing the court’s image could lead to contempt proceedings. She cautioned media and lawyers to report responsibly and avoid distorted portrayals of ongoing judicial hearings and processes.
Ernakulam District and Sessions Court judge Honey M. Varghese expressed her concerns on Friday regarding the media and legal professionals who publish news articles that misrepresent court proceedings in the gang rape case involving a Kerala actress.
Earlier, On December 8, the judge delivered the long-awaited verdict, acquitting Malayalam actor Dileep while convicting six others, including the primary accused, Pulsar Suni.
The Court scheduled a hearing on December 12 for the six convicted individuals to address the sentencing.
Before addressing the case, Judge Varghese issued a stern warning, stating that tarnishing the court’s image could lead to contempt of court proceedings. She emphasized that while she is not personally affected by disparaging articles about her, distorted portrayals of court proceedings would be taken seriously.
Furthermore, she cautioned those present against recording or transmitting any court proceedings related to the case.
Judge Varghese highlighted the importance of adhering to the Supreme Court’s guidelines from the Nipun Saxena v. Union of India ruling, which prohibits disclosing the identities of survivors or victims of sexual offenses. She noted that much of the media coverage has failed to comply with these essential guidelines.
The incident occurred on February 17, 2017, when the actress was abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of men while being transported to a film shoot in Thrissur. The assailants recorded videos of the assault.
The following day, the vehicle’s driver, Martin Antony, was arrested, and within a week, Sunil NS also known as Pulsar Suni was apprehended as the first accused. By the end of that month, four more individuals were arrested and charged.
Suni spent over seven years in custody until the Supreme Court granted him bail last year.
In July 2017, Dileep was taken into custody for allegedly orchestrating the crime out of revenge after the survivor actress informed his then-wife about his extramarital relationship.
After two unsuccessful attempts to secure bail, Dileep was finally granted bail by the Kerala High Court in October 2017, after spending 83 days in jail.
Earlier, On December 8, the Court acquitted Dileep of all charges.
However, it found Sunil NS, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh VP, Salim H (Vadival Salim), and Pradeep guilty.
They were charged with violations including criminal conspiracy (120B), wrongful confinement (342), use of force to outrage a woman’s modesty (354), kidnapping (366), use of force to disrobe a woman (354B), and criminal force causing wrongful confinement (357), along with gang rape (376D) under the Indian Penal Code.
All six were also held accountable for conspiring to commit offenses under Section 66E (capturing, publishing, or transmitting images of anyone’s private areas without consent) and Section 67A (publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material electronically) of the Information Technology Act for recording the sexual assault.
However, only Suni was directly convicted under these provisions.
Additionally, Martin Antony was found guilty under Section 201 of the IPC, which penalizes actions that lead to the destruction of evidence or providing false information to conceal an offender.