Police Conduct Search at MLA Mamkoottathil’s Palakkad Apartment in Sexual Assault Case

Palakkad: Police conducted a search on Sunday at the apartment of suspended Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil in Kunathurmedu in connection with a sexual assault case registered against him. Two police teams carried out the search throughout the morning to collect evidence.

According to the FIR filed on November 28, the complainant, who was pregnant at the time, was allegedly raped by Mamkoottathil over two days at the apartment in the last week of May. CCTV footage from the apartment was seized to corroborate the complainant’s statement, and various documents were examined. Mamkoottathil’s staff were present during the search.

The suspended MLA has reportedly been untraceable since the case was registered on Friday. He has filed an anticipatory bail plea before the Thiruvananthapuram District and Principal Sessions Court, which is scheduled for hearing on Wednesday.

Apart from Mamkoottathil, 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 induce a miscarriage.

The case has been registered under Sections 64(2)(f) (rape by a person in a position of trust), 64(2)(h) (rape of a pregnant woman), 64(2)(m) (repeated rape), 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.

Earlier, the Crime Branch had registered a case based on audio clips and chat messages that surfaced after third-party individuals emailed the police headquarters, as the complainant had not initially come forward. Recently, another audio clip emerged in which Mamkoottathil was heard first expressing a desire for a child and later urging the woman to undergo an abortion.

Mamkoottathil was suspended from Congress membership on August 25. He had earlier resigned as Youth Congress state president following allegations of misbehaviour by Malayalam actress Rini Ann George against a young leader, which sparked protests by the BJP and CPI(M) youth wing DYFI. Subsequently, several women and a transgender person also made allegations against him.

He was elected as MLA in November last year in a bypoll to the Palakkad seat, following former MLA Shafi Parambil’s election to the Lok Sabha from Vatakara.