Kerala Congress MLA Seeks Anticipatory Bail in Sexual Harassment Case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rahul Mamkoottathil, MLA, against whom a woman had submitted a complaint of sexual harassment to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday filed an anticipatory bail application before the Sessions Court in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the bail plea, the suspended Congress leader refuted all the allegations levelled against him, including forced abortion. He described the complainant as a close friend.

The bail plea stated that the woman had become a close friend of MLA via Facebook, and their relationship led to consensual sex.

His main argument is that the allegations are false, politically motivated, and linked to a CPM-BJP connection. The plea claimed the complainant is the wife of a BJP leader who befriended him on Facebook, and that their sexual relationship was consensual.

Rahul denied the allegation of impregnation, stating that the social media chats between them were recorded clandestinely as part of a conspiracy and were subsequently shared with the media. The Thiruvananthapuram District Principal Sessions Court will hear the plea on Monday.

The complainant’s company allegedly pressured her to file a complaint against him, and she informed him of this. Rahul claimed that there’s evidence supporting this and described the complaint submitted to the Chief Minister as “politically motivated”.

The MLA argued that the claim of an abortion was false, stating the complainant took the medicine on her own, and even if her pregnancy is accepted as fact, the responsibility lies with her husband. Rahul sought anticipatory bail, insisting he will cooperate with the investigation and that the allegations are fabricated.

As per the FIR, Rahul raped the complainant multiple times, including during her pregnancy. On March 17, her videos were recorded at her apartment, and the MLA allegedly threatened to release them if their relationship became public. Despite being aware of pregnancy, Rahul allegedly raped her at the woman's apartment on April 22 and again over two days in the last week of May at his apartment in Palakkad.

Earlier, a case was registered against the suspended Congres leader under Sectoins 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. Police have also invoked Section 66(E) of the Information Technology Act for the alleged recording and threat of misuse of private images.

The police have also registered a case against Rahul's close aide Joby Joseph, who had allegedly handed over abortion pills to the complainant inside a car on May 30.

Meanwhile, the complainant's confidential statement was recorded before the Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court in Neyyattinkara on Friday.

The police have constituted a Special Investigation Team and issued a lookout circular to prevent the suspended Congress leader from leaving the country.