Kerala filmstar's plea in sex case dismissed

Kochi, March 27 (IANS) The Kerala High Court Monday refused to admit Jagati Sreekumar's plea to close the controversial Vithura sex case, in which the actor had been accused of sexually abusing a minor girl.

The actor, along with some others, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl from Vithura - 30 km from here - nine years ago.

Sreekumar, who is popularly known as Jagati, excels in both character and comedy roles and has acted in more than 1,000 Malayalam films.

Sreekumar, along with three others, had approached the high court with a plea to dismiss the charges against them as they had been framed without proper evidence.

But Justice K. Thankappan dismissed their petition after the victim's counsel argued that the accused should have brought up the issue during the trial. He pointed out that the charge sheets had already been filed.

In 1997 the police had registered a case against the teenage girl under the Immoral Trafficking Act after she was picked up from a brothel in Ernakulam.

However, her parents claimed that she was a minor and had been lured into the sex trade by one of the neighbours.

The girl later identified around 45 people - including Sreekumar, police personnel, officials from the excise and customs department and businessmen - who had sexually abused her.

All the accused are currently on bail.

A special court, set up in Kottayam to try other cases of sexual abuse of minors, will take up the case in April.