Indian actor acquitted in high-profile assault case

An Indian court on Monday acquitted a film star but convicted several others of criminal charges stemming from accusations that he was involved in a high-profile rape and abduction case targeting a fellow actress.

The incident, which shook South India's Malayalam-language Mollywood film industry in 2017, prompted a sweeping investigation into allegations of entrenched sexual harassment in a sector long dominated by powerful men.

Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, the Kerala-based Mollywood actor better known by his stage name Dileep, was arrested in 2017 for allegedly orchestrating the assault, a charge he consistently denied. He spent three months in jail before being released on bail.

Judge Honey M Varghese delivered the verdict in a trial court in southern Kerala on Monday, acquitting Dileep while convicting six others of rape, conspiracy, abduction and related offences, according to the legal news outlet Live Law.

"The real conspiracy was against me," Dileep, 58, told reporters after the ruling, in remarks aired by local media. The survivor, whose identity is protected under Indian law, retains the right to challenge the verdict in a higher court.

Mollywood has built its reputation on critically acclaimed films with strong, socially engaged themes, standing apart from the song-and-dance spectacle of India's giant Hindi-language Bollywood industry, based in Mumbai.

Dileep became one of Malayalam cinema's major box-office draws in the 2000s with films such as 'Meesa Madhavan'. The industry is prolific, producing up to 200 films annually, and enjoys a devoted following among southern India's 37 million Malayalam speakers, with its films also widely dubbed and streamed across India and abroad.

In the wake of the case, the state government formed a panel to examine gender bias, sexual harassment and deep-rooted structural problems in Malayalam cinema. Bina Paul, film editor and co-founder of the advocacy group Women in Cinema Collective, said the outcome was not "unexpected".

"Situations like this make you understand this is not an easy fight," she told AFP. "The judgement tells you, in general, about the treatment of women and will have repercussions on how and if women decide to come forward with their stories."

Last year, the government-appointed panel released a report concluding that women actors are confronted with the widespread "worst evil" of sexual harassment. Those considering speaking out about abuse often face threats to their lives and families, the report added.