The Kerala High Court has refused to suspend the sentence of Martin Antony, the second accused in the actor assault case of 2017.
The Division Bench of Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar had earlier denied the suspension of sentence pleas by N.S. Sunil a.k.a Pulsar, Saleem, and Pradeep, the first, fifth and sixth accused respectively.
The court held that there was prima facie evidence to prove that the applicant had aided the commission of the crime and had participated in the conspiracy as well. The call detail records had shown that Antony was in constant contact with Sunil and had sent a message right before the fake accident, caused to allegedly stop and enter the survivor’s car.
Antony had contended that the prosecution had not adequately proved the charges against him, and that he was neither a passenger nor a witness or driver of the car in which the assault allegedly took place. He also contended that he had been arrested in 2017 and had undergone more than five years of imprisonment and had been serving his sentence since December 2025.
Six of the 10 accused were convicted by the Sessions Judge, Ernakulam, in 2025. Each accused was charged with two counts of gang rape, assault, use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe, wrongful confinement, destruction of evidence, and taking and distributing obscene images.
Published – August 06, 2026 01:25 am IST
