Kochi: Malayalam actor Nivin Pauly was given a clean chit in a rape case against him on Wednesday. The Kothamangalam Oonukal police, who investigated the case, submitted a report stating that Nivin Pauly had no involvement in the alleged crime and that he should be removed from the list of accused. The report was filed in the Kothamangalam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court.
The investigation report stated that Nivin was not present at the location where the incident allegedly took place, as claimed by the survivor in her statements. Nivin Pauly was listed as the sixth accused in the case. The report was submitted by Ernakulam Rural DySP TM Varghese, the investigating officer. " We scrutinized his emigration details, credit card transaction records and other travel details. The findings didn't corroborate the allegations and hence we decided to remove his name from the list of accused," a senior official with the Special Investigation Team ( SIT) said.
The case was originally filed by a young woman from Kothamangalam, who alleged that she was gang-raped by six people, including Nivin Pauly, under the pretence of being offered a role in a film. The accusation was part of a series of revelations following the Hema Committee Report’s release.
According to the survivor’s statement to the police, the incident allegedly took place in Dubai on December 14 and 15, 2023. She also claimed that the perpetrators recorded the assault on a mobile phone and threatened to release the footage. Based on these allegations, charges including gang rape and outraging a woman’s modesty were slapped on the accused. However, director Vineeth Sreenivasan stated that Nivin was in Kochi for the shooting of the film Varshangalkku Shesham during the date of the incident. Following the woman’s complaint, Nivin immediately denied the accusations in a press conference.
