5 months ago
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The Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, S. Nazeera, connected Wednesday (December 10, 2025) granted Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil anticipatory bail successful the lawsuit concerning the alleged rape of a young woman aft “inviting her to a homestay astatine Adoor successful Pathanamthitta territory to sermon matrimony successful 2023”. This is the 2nd rape lawsuit filed against the MLA.
The tribunal directed Mr. Mamkootathil to contiguous himself earlier the investigating officer, K. Sajeevan, astatine the State Police Crime Branch bureau astatine Kowdiar successful Thiruvananthapuram and cooperate with the probe.
The tribunal besides required Mr. Mamkootathil to surrender his passport to the investigating bureau and not permission the state without the jurisdictional magistrate’s permission.
Moreover, helium indispensable authenticate his beingness successful the state by presenting himself earlier the investigating bureau each Monday until further notice. The MLA indispensable station bail for ₹1 lakh and nutrient 2 solvent sureties to guarantee his compliance with tribunal orders.
The prosecution has sought an authenticated transcript of the order, which has not yet been made public, to expressly situation the sessions tribunal bid successful the High Court.
The State-side had stridently opposed Mr. Mamkootathil’s plea. It pointed retired that different anticipatory bail plea successful a comparable lawsuit against Mr. Mamkootathil was pending disposal successful the High Court.
Moreover, the prosecution argued that the probe was successful its aboriginal stages. Releasing the accused connected bail risked destroying evidence, intimidating the subsister into withdrawing charges and not cooperating with the investigation, and interfering with the investigation.
Moreover, the prosecution contended that the MLA had dodged apprehension since the Crime Branch indicted him connected charges of serial rape and coerced aesculapian termination of gestation past month. The Crime Branch alleged that the MLA was not cooperating with the probe and that respective notices to him went unheeded.
The Crime Branch besides filed different study successful court, indicting Mr. Mamkootathil of trespass, amerciable detention and causing wounded successful the 2nd case.
The prosecution besides adduced backstage communications, including WhatsApp chats and Instagram messages betwixt the accused and the pistillate complainant, arsenic preliminary grounds to bolster its lawsuit against the anticipatory bail plea.
Moreover, the prosecution claimed that the survivor, who was poised to springiness a sworn connection earlier a Magistrate nether Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Surkasha Sanhit, felt threatened by the accused and his accomplices.
The FIR accused Mr. Mamkootathil’s enactment compatriot and Congress campaigner for the Adoor municipality elections, Feni Ninan, of having driven the pistillate to the homestay wherever the MLA allegedly raped her. Mr. Ninan has since denied the complaint and termed it politically motivated.
Defence’s argument
The defence argued that the lawsuit was “bogus” and “politically motivated”. The pistillate had sent the ailment to journalists and politicians, allegedly to scandalise the politician. Moreover, it stated that apprehension was an objection and not mandatory successful akin cases. The defence promised that Mr. Mamkootathil would cooperate with the investigation.
Investigators said that since the transition of clip could destruct nonstop grounds specified arsenic DNA and wounded marks, they would enactment the woman’s grounds by constructing a concatenation of circumstantial evidence, including the mobile telephone determination of the unfortunate and the accused astatine the clip of the crime. Hence, the MLA’s custodial interrogation and recognition and seizure of integer devices progressive successful the transgression were important to the probe.
