When bus passengers in Kerala spoke out against actor Dileep

Passengers on board a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus from Thiruvananthapuram to Kalpetta in Kerala on Saturday protested after a film starring actor Dileep, one of the accused in the 2017 Kerala actress assault case who was later acquitted, was played during the journey.

A group of women passengers objected to the film. Following the protest, the bus staff stopped the film.

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The situation escalated when some male passengers allegedly intervened in support of the actor, leading to a heated argument.

Lekshmi R Shekhar, a passenger on the bus, shared details of the incident. "Yesterday, I was travelling from Kesavadasapuram to Adoor. On that KSRTC bus, the film Parakkum Thalika, starring Dileep, was being played... at a very loud volume. Watching and listening to that film, in the present circumstances, and having to endure it for a 2.5-hour journey on a KSRTC bus was extremely uncomfortable for me."

She said that she raised this issue with the conductor and asked that the movie be switched off.

"I also told him that I would get off at the next stop... When we say we stand with the survivor, this is how we must act in practice. I asked all the passengers on the bus whether they were interested in watching this movie. Except for two people, all the women clearly said they were not interested in watching it."

"Not only that, they all stood with me and told the conductor that the movie should be switched off. They said they were not interested in being forced to watch it, and therefore, it must be turned off. All of us said we stand with the survivor. Respecting the opinion of the majority, the conductor switched off the TV."

"Until the survivor gets justice, every self-respecting woman must stand with her," added Lekshmi.

The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court last week sentenced all six convicts to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment in the 2017 actress assault case.

Prior to the verdict, the court acquitted Malayalam actor and the eighth accused, Dileep, in the case.

The case pertained to an actress who worked in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films and was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car by a group of men who forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017.