KOCHI: The Ernakulam principal sessions court will pronounce the verdict in the sensational actor abduction and rape case, in which actor Dileep is accused of conspiring and hiring a gang to execute the crime, on Monday.District and sessions judge Honey M Varghese will deliver the judgment against 10 accused, excluding those who were discharged or turned approver during the trial. Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who led the gang that abducted and raped the actor, is the prime accused. Besides Suni and Dileep, the accused include Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh V P, Salim H alias Vadival Salim, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and G Sarath. The offences include those under Sections 120(A), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 109 (abetment of crime), 342, 357 (wrongful confinement), 366 (kidnapping), 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 354(B) (intent to disrobe a woman), 376(D) (gang rape), 506(i) (criminal intimidation), 201 (destroying evidence), 212 (harbouring an offender), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. The popular actor was abducted and assaulted in Kochi on Feb 17, 2017, when she was travelling from Thrissur to Kochi. The prosecution’s case is that the gang hijacked the survivor’s vehicle. Martin Antony was entrusted with picking up the survivor from her house, and he informed Suni of her location throughout the journey. Suni and others started following the vehicle from Angamaly and faked an accident at Athani at 9.15pm. The accused then entered the vehicle and wrongfully confined her. Suni threatened the survivor, sexually assaulted her and recorded obscene videos, including the visuals of the sexual assault, on a mobile phone. In Nov 2022, police relied on circumstantial evidence to submit a second chargesheet that actor Dileep conspired with Suni. It was alleged that Dileep nursed a grudge towards the survivor for informing his former wife, actor Manju Warrier, about his extramarital affair. The trial in the case began on March 8, 2018. Over the years, it saw 261 witnesses, including prominent film actors, being examined in camera, with 28 of them turning hostile. Two prosecutors resigned over the years, and the survivor unsuccessfully moved higher courts seeking to change the presiding officer. Ultimately, the prosecution submitted 833 documents and 142 pieces of evidence, while the defence submitted 221 documents. The witness examination alone took 438 days.