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‘I should have remained silent’: Malayalam actress who survived 2017 abduction and sexual assault
This is the second reaction from the woman in the past week after a trial court convicted six accused, while acquitting Malayalam actor Dileep, who had faced conspiracy charges
This is the second reaction from the woman in the past week after a trial court in Ernakulam convicted six accused, sentencing them to 20 years in jail, while acquitting Malayalam actor Dileep, who had faced conspiracy charges. (File Photo)
Shocked over a video released by one of the convicts, the Malayalam actress who survived the 2017 abduction and sexual assault case on Friday said that she regretted having fought a legal battle. “Not a victim, not a survivor, just a simple human being, let me live,” she said in an Instagram post.
This is the second reaction from the woman in the past week after a trial court in Ernakulam convicted six accused, sentencing them to 20 years in jail, while acquitting Malayalam actor Dileep, who had faced conspiracy charges.
What ostensibly prompted the latest reaction was a video released by the second accused, Martin Antony, before he was convicted. In the video, he claimed the case was fabricated. Subsequently, the police registered another case against Antony on charges of revealing the survivor’s identity.
In the Instagram post, she wrote, “It was a mistake that I complained to the police soon after I was attacked and that I proceeded ahead with legal action. I should have remained silent, thinking that what had happened to me on that day was my fate. When that video (ostensibly referring to a video of the sexual assault recorded by the assailants) came out, I should have committed suicide, not knowing how to answer those who accused me of not filing a police complaint (initially at the time of the incident). I saw a video taken by the second accused, who was among those convicted to 20 years in jail, before he went to prison… I want to say, let you or those at your home not face such a fate. Not a victim, not a survivor, just a simple human being, let me live.’’
Last week, in her first reaction after the court verdict, the survivor had expressed her disappointment, saying she had come to the realisation that “not every citizen in this country is treated equally before the law”.
“After 8 years, 9 months, and 23 days, I finally saw a small ray of light at the end of a very long and painful journey. Six of the accused have been convicted, and for that, I am grateful. This moment is dedicated to those who chose to call my pain a lie and this case a made-up story. I hope you are at peace with yourselves today,” the actor wrote in her statement.
She also sought to make it clear that the main accused in the case, Pulsar Suni, who was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on Friday, was not her personal driver.
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“And to those who still keep saying that accused No. 1 was my personal driver, this is completely false. He was not my driver, not my employee, and not someone I knew. He was a random person who happened to be assigned as a driver for a movie I worked on in 2016. Ironically, I met him only once or twice during that time, and never again, until the day this crime happened. Please stop spreading false stories,” she said.
She said she knew “something was not right” about the way the case was being handled as early as 2020. “This verdict may surprise many people, but it did not surprise me. As early as 2020, I began to feel that something was not right. Even the prosecution noticed changes in the way the case was being handled, especially when it came to one particular accused,” she said.
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