Kozhikode: Actor Dileep’s acquittal in the 2017 actress abduction and sexual assault case on December 8 has ripped open a fresh fault line in Mollywood, with powerful industry bodies signalling a red-carpet return for the star even as prominent women in the fraternity accuse them of abandoning the survivor.

On December 8, the Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court acquitted Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, and three others, while convicting six co-accused, including prime accused Sunil “Pulsar” Suni, eight years after the attack on the actor inside a moving vehicle near Kochi in February.

The Kerala government has already announced it will challenge the acquittal in a higher court, stressing that it “stands firmly with the survivor”.

Yet, within hours of the verdict, maj

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