Kerala assault case: Dileep's wife Kavya Madhavan summoned for questioning
What's the story
The 2017 Kerala actor assault case has taken a new turn with one of the accused, disgraced Malayalam superstar Dileep's wife and former actor Kavya Madhavan, getting summoned for questioning. The Kerala Police's Crime Branch summoned her on Friday, asking her to appear before it on Monday. Madhavan allegedly had a major role to play in the assault. Trigger warning to be noted.
Context
Why does this story matter?
In February 2017, a popular Malayalam actor was abducted and sexually assaulted for over two hours in a car. There are 10 accused in this case, including Dileep. But in December 2021, filmmaker Balachandrakumar released some audio clips, sparking a fresh investigation. In these clips, Dileep and others were allegedly heard talking about a conspiracy to murder the investigating officials in the assault case.
Background
Recently leaked audio linked Madhavan to assault case
The news of Madhavan being summoned comes after the Crime Branch submitted digital evidence in the assault case before a trial court. Part of this was an audio recording of a telephone conversation that was leaked to the media. In the recording, Dileep's bother-in-law Sooraj was heard saying the assault was masterminded by Madhavan and not Dileep—but he was forced to take the blame.
Updates
Hacker was arrested for deleting data from Dileep's phone
Meanwhile, in the ongoing investigation into the conspiracy to murder investigating officials, Dileep and the other accused submitted their phones for forensic examination. However, the Crime Branch maintained Dileep deleted some valuable information, which the latter denied. Officials even arrested a cyber expert and hacker, Sai Shankar, on Friday for deleting data from Dileep's phone. Reportedly, Shankar had manipulated the device back in January.
Audio clip
Dileep, others apparently watched visuals of assault multiple times
Separately, another call recording between Dileep, Sooraj, and a member of the actor's lawyer team—which was submitted to the court—suggests they had watched the sexual assault visuals multiple times. However, Dileep was allowed to watch them only twice officially. So, the police wish to prove that Dileep and his acquaintances watched the video of the assault multiple times. Earlier, Balachandrakumar also alleged the same.
Do you know?
Earlier, Kerala HC denied bail to prime accused
On March 29, the Kerala High Court denied bail to the prime accused in the assault case, Pulsar Suni. Before that, the HC rejected Dileep's plea to suspend the further investigation. Moreover, it had ordered the investigation agency to conclude its probe by April 15.