Malayalam actor’s plea in sexual assault case rejected
KOCHI: In a setback to popular Malayalam cine actor Unni Mukundan, Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected his petition seeking acquital from a sexual assault case pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Ernakulam.
The court allowed the case to continue and the actor to face trial.
The court pointed out that there is no reason to quash the case as the complainant has already stated that she is not ready to setle.
Subsequently, the court directed the trial to continue ater liting the stay on trial proceedings. Mukundan had rejected her complaint as fake.
The victim had alleged that the actor attempted to rape her in 2018 and had sought police protection. She had also sought cancellation of the bail granted to the actor.
The woman, in her complaint, said that Mukundan tried to rape her when she went to his flat at Edappally to discuss a movie project.
The alleged incident happened on Aug.23, 2018, and she lodged a complaint on Sept.15, 2018.
However, Unni Mukundan rejected the woman’s claims as fabricated and filed a complaint against her.
He also stated that she had demanded Rs2500,000 to agree to not file a case.
The actor claimed that she had cooked up the allegation in a bid to trap him in a fake case, tarnish his reputation and extract money from him.
The actor filed petitions in the magistrate court and session’s court seeking to quash the case.
The petitions were rejected and Mukundan moved the High Court.
In 2021, controversial lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangur, who represented the actor, obtained a stay on further proceedings of the case ater stating in the court that the complainant had agreed to an out of court setlement.
In February 2023, the stay was withdrawn ater the complainant’s lawyer told the court that his client did not sign the setlement documents.
The court observed that it was a serious issue and also asked the actor to give an explanation on the mater.
Mukundan’s lawyer Saiby Jose was recently accused of taking money from clients to bribe judges.
The offices of the lawyer were raided by a special investigation team probing the allegations against him.
He had reportedly submited a document stating that the survivor in the case agreed to setle the issue outside of court.
The court accused Saiby of fabricating documents and misleading the court. Recording the woman’s statement, the court observed that it was a serious issue and Saiby was answerable to the charges.
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