With police continuing their intensive search for missing Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, another woman has filed a fresh sexual assault complaint against the legislator.
The 23-year-old woman, who lives outside Kerala, sent the complaint to the party high command and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) via email.
The party's state leadership has handed the complaint over to the state police chief for further action, party sources said on Tuesday. However, DGP Ravada A Chandrasekhar said he has yet to receive the complaint.
Mamkootathil has been missing for the past few days after police registered a sexual assault and forced abortion case against him based on a complaint submitted to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week.
In the fresh complaint, the woman allegedly stated that Mamkootathil had grievously exploited, assaulted, and emotionally abused her under "the false promise of marriage." She said she was coming forward now because recent reports of similar allegations had surfaced, and she wanted to ensure that no other woman "falls prey to his predatory behaviour." In her complaint, she also gave a detailed account of how she met Mamkootathil years ago and how she was "sexually assaulted" in a homestay-like building after "being deceived with a false promise of marriage." The complaint also includes allegations against Feni Ninan, a close associate of Mamkootathil.
Meanwhile, the Congress leadership, which has been maintaining a distance from the row involving Mamkootathil for some time, made it clear that they promptly forwarded the complaint to the police without any delay.
KPCC chief Sunny Joseph said he received the complaint in his email that afternoon. "This is the first time I am getting a complaint in this regard, and immediately, as a law-abiding citizen, I forwarded it to the police," he told the media.
Responding to reporters in Pathanamthitta, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan said Joseph forwarded the complaint to the DGP without keeping it in his possession "even for an hour." He said the complaint received by the KPCC president had sought party-level action; however, since it involved allegations of a criminal offence, it was decided that it should be handed over to the police.
Claiming that no other party in Kerala has ever taken such a strong stand, he accused the ruling CPI(M) of burying similar complaints against its leaders after conducting internal inquiries.
"The Congress stands tall with pride," Satheesan said. "Let the police investigate and take action," he added.
He further said the party would not protect anyone and that if anything wrong had been committed, the police should investigate and act accordingly.
Senior leader K Muraleedharan said that even though the complaint was unnamed, the KPCC chief—considering its seriousness—handed it over to the DGP.
"In his reply to the complainant's email, the KPCC chief stated that since the accused had already been suspended from the party, the matter was being forwarded to the police. He also advised her to cooperate with the investigation," Muraleedharan said.
Former minister and MLA A P Anilkumar also defended the party's stand, saying the Congress had taken all possible organisational actions against Mamkootathil as soon as the allegations surfaced.
However, Ninan rejected the allegations mentioned in the complaint and alleged that they were part of a political conspiracy ahead of the upcoming elections.
"I do not know the complainant. But I am fully aware that no such incident ever took place. Everything written in the complaint is an outright lie," Ninan told reporters in Pathanamthitta.
He also said that legal action would be taken against the complainant and against news reports on the matter.
According to the FIR registered on November 28 based on the earlier complaint, the complainant—who was pregnant at the time—was allegedly raped by Mamkootathil over two days at an apartment in the last week of May.
The suspended legislator has reportedly been untraceable since the case was registered on November 28.
He has filed an anticipatory bail plea before the Thiruvananthapuram District and Principal Sessions Court, which will be considered on December 3.
Apart from Mamkootathil, his friend Joby Joseph is also named as an accused and is currently untraceable. Joseph allegedly gave the complainant a pill inside a car on May 30 to abort the pregnancy.
The case has been registered under Sections 64(2)(f) (rape by a person in a position of trust or authority), 64(2)(h) (rape knowing the woman is pregnant), 64(2)(m) (repeated rape of 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.
Mamkootathil was suspended from the primary membership of the Congress on August 25.
He earlier resigned as Youth Congress state president after Malayalam actress Rini Ann George accused a young leader of misbehaviour, prompting protests by the BJP and the DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M).
Subsequently, several women and a transgender person also levelled allegations against him.
Mamkootathil was elected as MLA in November last year in a by-election to the Palakkad seat, following former MLA Shafi Parambil's election to the Lok Sabha from Vatakara.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
