Kerala High Court Reserves Order on Plea to Suspend Convict's Sentence in Actor Rape Case
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the plea filed by Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the 2017 actor rape case, seeking suspension of his 20-year prison sentence and grant of bail. A Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar heard arguments from all sides before reserving its order.
The Kerala government and the survivor opposed the plea. The government argued that granting bail could lead to the misuse of visual recordings of the crime, which are yet to be recovered. The survivor's counsel submitted that no exceptional circumstances existed to justify suspending the sentence, given the severity of the offence.
Suni, in his plea, contended that he had already spent over eight and a half years in custody and pointed to the acquittal of actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, by the trial court. However, the Special Public Prosecutor countered that the mobile phone containing the alleged visuals of the rape is still missing, and the investigation is ongoing. He also noted that Suni has criminal antecedents and is likely to abscond if released.
The state's appeal seeking enhancement of Suni's sentence and challenging the acquittal of the other accused is pending before the High Court. The court's reserved verdict is awaited.
