Congress Expels Rape-Accused MLA Mamkootathil From Party's Primary Membership

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Thursday expelled Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil from the party after a district sessions court here rejected his anticipatory bail plea in a rape case.

KPCC president Sunny Joseph stated that Rahul's continuation in the party had become "ethically untenable" in the wake of accusations of serial sexual predation.

He said the KPCC leadership took action against Rahul with the approval of AICC and added that it would be appropriate for him to resign from his MLA post.

Incidentally, Rahul was expelled exactly a year after he was sworn in as MLA from Palakkad constituency on December 4, 2024.

According to the FIR registered by the Nemom police here, the suspended Congress leader raped the complainant multiple times, including during her pregnancy.

On March 17, videos of her were recorded at her apartment, and the MLA allegedly threatened to release them if their relationship became public. The FIR also stated that despite knowing about the pregnancy, Rahul allegedly raped her at her apartment on April 22 and again over two days in the last week of May at his apartment in Palakkad.

The case was registered, against the suspended Congress leader under Sections 64(2) (f) (rape of a person in a position of trust or authority), 64(2)(h) ( rape knowing the woman is pregnant), 64(2)(m) (repeated rape on the same woman), 89 (causing miscarriage without consent), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) , 351(3) (criminal intimidation, and 3(5) (joint criminal liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Rahul had submitted additional evidence to the court to prove his innocence. WhatsApp messages, call logs and photographs of the survivor with her husband were placed before the court by the MLA's counsel to suggest that the relationship between the two individuals was consensual and the woman had herself decided to undergo an abortion.

As the court was hearing Rahul's anticipatory bail plea, a 23-year-old non-resident Keralite woman sent an email to the KPCC president on Tuesday, accusing the MLA of raping her after inviting her to a resort to discuss their prospective marriage in 2023.

The KPCC president forwarded the complaint to the State Police Chief.

Meanwhile, the police have stepped up efforts to arrest Rahul, who has been on the run for the past eight days. The police parties carried out searches in Bengaluru, Kerala- Karnataka border areas, and Wayanad.