Overview
- The survivor filed a petition in the Kerala High Court on Friday seeking a fresh, court‑monitored Special Investigation Team with cyber and digital‑forensic expertise to probe alleged illegal access, copying and possible transmission of a memory card containing assault visuals.
- The plea cites State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Thiruvananthapuram findings that the memory card was accessed three times between January 2018 and July 2021 while it was in court custody and that copying or transmission could not be ruled out.
- The petition formally challenges the District and Sessions Judge’s enquiry report, which found the three accesses were by the Magistrate court, a senior sessions‑court clerk and another clerk, and says the earlier trial‑court inquiry was biased and lacked independent experts.
- The move comes after a sessions court last year convicted six men and sentenced them to 20 years while acquitting actor Dileep, and it arrives while appeals by the convicts and a State appeal against Dileep’s acquittal remain pending before the High Court.
- If the High Court orders the requested time‑bound SIT, a forensic probe could identify who copied or transmitted the visuals, influence the pending appeals and prompt tighter rules for custody and handling of digital evidence in courts.