Actress assault case: Dileep, other accused appear before court

Kochi: The trial court convened to hear the actress assault case, with several accused, including the eighth accused, Malayalam actor Dileep, also known as P. Gopalakrishnan, appearing before it.

The others who appeared before the court are the first accused, Pulsar Suni (NS Sunil); the second accused, Martin Antony; the third accused, B. Manikantan; the fourth accused, V. P. Vijeesh; the sixth accused, Pradeep; the ninth accused, Sanil Kumar; and the fifteenth accused, Sarath G. Nair. Notably, the fifth and seventh accused were absent from the hearing.

The appearance of the accused was part of the ongoing trial proceedings. The examination of prosecution witnesses has been completed, and now the defence will begin presenting its witnesses and arguments.

In the meantime, the prosecution filed a petition highlighting a legal issue in the case. The prosecution emphasised that after the completion of witness examination, they have a legal right to cross-examine those listed as accused. If the witnesses do not need to be examined, the petition requests that this be included in the records. This request is made to ensure it does not affect the proceedings of the case later.