5 months ago
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The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) connected Thursday (December 4, 2025) expelled Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil from the enactment successful a definitive effort to gully a enactment nether a serial intersexual predation ungraded that has haunted the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition successful Kerala since August.
The decision came adjacent connected the heels of a territory tribunal successful Thiruvananthapuram rejecting the MLA’s anticipatory bail plea successful a rape and coerced termination of gestation lawsuit based connected a ailment filed past Thursday by a pistillate acquaintance of his.
In a terse property release, KPCC president Sunny Joseph stated that Mr Mamkootathil’s continuation successful the enactment had go “ethically untenable” successful the aftermath of accusations of serial intersexual predation.
Matters reached a captious threshold for Mr Mamkootathil aft a 23-year-old non-resident Keralite pistillate emailed the KPCC president connected Tuesday, accusing the MLA of raping her aft inviting her to a edifice to sermon their prospective matrimony successful 2023.
She claimed that she had braved the fearfulness of being targeted connected societal media, arsenic successful the lawsuit of respective different alleged victims, to stroke the whistle connected the KPCC enactment for allegedly sitting connected intersexual misconduct complaints against Mr Mamkootathil.
Mr Joseph forwarded the ailment to the State Police Chief portion denying the emailer’s allegation that the enactment had protected Mr Mamkootathil.
An online gathering of the apical KPCC enactment connected Wednesday had decided to decouple the enactment from Mr Mamkootathil to end, what a enactment insider termed arsenic “a seemingly endless march of shame.”
Moreover, helium stated that the enactment could not hazard being blindsided again by a caller question of sordid scandals oregon explosive revelations during the last signifier of the section assemblage canvass campaign.
Bitter blow
For Mr Mamkootathil and his supporters, KPCC’s determination to ostracise the MLA has travel arsenic a bitter stroke connected a time erstwhile a territory tribunal successful Thiruvananthapuram has posted his anticipatory bail plea successful a rape and coerced termination of gestation for hearing.
The expulsion was besides a autumn from grace for the young politician, whose meteoric emergence successful Congress was partially attributed to his societal media success, built connected an service of unofficial supporters who churned retired hundreds of reels and slick edits of his punchlines and deed memes.
However, the societal media enactment became a curse for Mr Mamkootathil aft galore of his cyber backers turned against the KPCC enactment for suspending the MLA successful August, aft a bid of intersexual misconduct accusations threatened to spot distant astatine the party’s nationalist image.
Congress’ women leaders, notably MLA Uma Thomas, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, and elder person Ramesh Chennithala, emerged arsenic aboriginal targets of vicious cyberattacks.
Following his suspension, Mr Mamkootathil withdrew from nationalist life, mostly confining himself to his backstage residence successful Pathanamthitta district.
In September, Mr Mamkootathil gingerly attempted to claw backmost his governmental abstraction by participating successful the Assembly league arsenic an autarkic member.
Later, helium became an astir constant, but comparatively low-key, beingness successful Palakkad amid boycott threats from the BJP and the DYFI. He besides towed on with Congress’s section assemblage canvass candidates, gladhanding his constituents and seeking votes for the party.
A conception of the Congress enactment defended Mr Mamkootathil, underscoring that nary alleged unfortunate had preferred a constabulary ailment against him. Moreover, immoderate Congress leaders noted that the State Police Crime Branch enquiry against Mr Mamkootathil had travel to a dormant extremity successful the lack of an identifiable unfortunate with a recordable complaint.
However, matters took a crisp crook for Mr Mamkootathil past Thursday. An alleged unfortunate contacted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and filed a ailment of rape and coerced gestation termination against Mr Mamkootathil, prompting the MLA to retreat from nationalist beingness for the 2nd clip successful the past 5 months.
The unfortunate reportedly stated that incessant vilification connected societal media and broadcasting her individuality had prompted her to interruption her soundlessness and attack the police.
Meanwhile, the constabulary person moved rapidly to apprehension Mr Mamkootathil. They person formed a dragnet for him successful neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and issued a lookout announcement to sea, air, and onshore ports via the Bureau of Immigration.
