Kochi, Dec. 8 -- A Kerala trial court on Monday aquitted proiminent Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 actress rape and abduction case. The court had earlier reserved the judgement for December 12.

"There was a conspiracy to defame me in society, to defame my career, my image and destroy my life," Dileep said outside the court.

Judge Honey M Varghese of the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court pronounced the verdict in the 2017 Kerala Actress assault case in which Dileep is the eighth accused.

Dileep has been found not guilty of the allegation that he orchestrated the assault of the assault. Dileep was accused of conspiring and hiring a gang to execute the crime.

The case pertains to an actress who worked in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu...