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Woman submits complaint to CM against suspended Cong MLA Rahul Mamkootathil
The complainant, accompanied by a family member, met the chief minister at his office in the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram: A woman submitted a complaint against suspended Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday, purportedly accusing the legislator of coercing her to terminate her pregnancy and issuing verbal threats.
The complainant, accompanied by a family member, met the chief minister at his office in the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. The CM is learnt to have handed over the complaint to the state police chief Ravada Chandrasekhar. Crime Branch ADGP H Venkatesh also met the CM on Thursday at the latter’s office, indicating that it would file an FIR and record the complainant’s statement before a magistrate soon.
This is the first time a woman has formally submitted a complaint against the Palakkad MLA who was stripped of his primary membership within the Congress party in August over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, sending obscene messages and sexual misconduct. Though the Crime Branch then had filed a zero FIR and initiated a probe, it came to a halt due to the complainants not coming forward against the MLA.
The formal complaint comes days after audio clips surfaced on local media in which a male voice, purportedly of Rahul, is heard telling the woman to ‘stop being dramatic’ about her pregnancy and to visit the hospital. In the audio clip, the woman is heard saying that he (Rahul) wanted the pregnancy in the first place and that he has ‘changed a lot.’ In August too, audio clips had surfaced, reportedly of the same woman, in which the MLA was even heard saying at one point that he did not need much time to kill her if he wanted so. He was also heard saying that if she kept the child, his ‘life will be destroyed.’
Apart from the woman, actress Rini Ann George has also accused Rahul of sending her obscene messages and inviting her to a hotel room with perverse intentions. However, the actress has not filed a formal complaint.
The MLA had initially claimed that such audio clips could easily be manufactured. However, he has not denied that it’s not his voice.
On Thursday, hours after the complainant met the CM, Rahul wrote on Facebook that ‘truth alone triumphs.’
“As long as I know that I have not done any wrong, I will fight legally. Everything will be proved in the court of justice and the court of people. Truth will win,” he wrote.
Rahul had become an MLA for the first time last year after winning the bye-election in Palakkad. The bye-election was prompted by the resignation of Congress leader and Rahul’s mentor Shafi Parambil who was elected to Lok Sabha. A popular face of the party on television debates, Rahul was forced to resign as the president of the Youth Congress in August following the allegations against him.
