Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader PC George on Thursday said that the woman, who has alleged that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Malayalam actor Dileep, benefitted professionally from the case, PTI reported.

The woman, who is also an actor, has alleged that she was kidnapped and sexually abused inside her car for two hours on February 17, 2017. There are 10 accused persons in the case and initially, the police arrested seven people.

The woman has accused Dileep of planning the assault. Dileep was also arrested subsequently but later released on bail. The Kerala High Court is hearing the matter.

George, who is himself out on bail in a sexual assault case, at a press meet in Kottayam on Thursday mocked the use of “survivor” while referring to the complainant in the Dileep case.

“The survivor is getting several films now...I don’t think she suffered any loss after the issue,” he said, according to PTI. “The loss which she had suffered in life as a woman might be huge if the said incident was true. But, my belief is that she got benefits in other areas.”

Even after reporters criticised him for making such comments, he continued to stick to his stance. In 2017, the former MLA had repeatedly insisted that Dileep was innocent in the case.

He had also questioned how the woman could have gone to work the next day if according to the prosecution, she was assaulted more brutally than the student in Delhi, who was gang-raped and murdered in 2012.

George was booked in May for promoting enmity between different groups after he asked the audience at an event to avoid restaurants run by Muslims claiming that they serve tea laced with a drug that causes impotence. This was done to turn non-Muslims infertile so that Muslims could “seize control” of the country, he had said.