Kochi, July 14 : The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea filed by Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the 2017 actress assault case, seeking suspension of his sentence pending the disposal of his appeal.

Rejecting the petition, the High Court observed that the dignity of the survivor also had to be taken into consideration while deciding the request.

Pulsar Suni was sentenced to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment by the trial court after being convicted in the case.

His appeal challenging the conviction and seeking to have the sentence set aside is currently pending before the High Court.

Meanwhile, he had sought suspension of the sentence until the appeal is finally decided.

Opposing the plea, the survivor pointed out before the court that the offence committed was a heinous crime and that the trial court had found the first accused guilty after a full-fledged trial.

She argued that suspending the sentence would send a wrong message and be perceived as diminishing the gravity of the offence.

The prosecution also urged the court not to suspend the sentence.

It informed the court that its appeal seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to the accused is also pending consideration.

The state government further argued that the first accused is a habitual offender with a serious criminal background.

It pointed out that the accused had repeatedly approached the courts seeking bail, following which he had even been fined by the court for filing successive bail petitions.

The prosecution also submitted that within a month of being released on bail by the Supreme Court in an earlier case, the accused was implicated in yet another criminal case, demonstrating that he was a repeat offender.

After hearing the arguments advanced by both sides, the High Court dismissed Pulsar Suni's plea seeking suspension of his sentence pending the disposal of his appeal.

In the case of actor Dileep, who was in jail soon after the 2017 incident was, however, acquitted along with a few others.

/IANS