Zero FIR filed against suspended Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil

The Kerala Police on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) took cognisance of the accusations of serial sexual misconduct against Congress legislator Rahul Mamkootathil. 

The police move came close on the heels of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s suggestion that the government is on the right legal track on the issue.

Senior officials stated that the absence of a specific complaint against Mr. Mamkootathil did not preclude the police from investigating the alleged offences.

Furthermore, they noted that the Kerala State Women’s Commission had taken cognisance of allegations and sought a detailed report from the police.

Officials confirmed that the State Police Crime Branch, which has Statewide investigative jurisdiction, has registered a “Zero First Information Report”.

The legal move allows victims to report crimes regardless of territorial jurisdiction or other impediments, including through secure electronic online channels.

The Zero FIR also opens the door for the police to investigate Mr. Mamkootathil on charges of stalking women online or in the physical world despite their apparent disinterest and clear objections, and monitoring the internet activities of alleged victims remotely, despite the absence of specific complaints from them.

Officials pointed out that Section 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) criminalises such felonious behaviour. It entails a punishment of up to three years of imprisonment and a fine for a first-time offender, and up to five years of incarceration and heftier penalties for habitual offenders. 

The Zero FIR also empowers women officers to contact the alleged victims and record their complaints at their preferred locations and in secrecy. 

Officials said the Zero FIR empowers the police to investigate the authenticity of the widely circulated voice clip, purportedly a recording of Mr. Mamkootathil’s alleged “threats and entreaties” to a woman to terminate her pregnancy outside marriage. 

Mr. Mamkootathil has vehemently denied that the voice on the incriminating audio clip was his. He also suggested that unknown malefactors had fabricated the audio recording using the latest software and possibly artificial intelligence to discredit him.

Officials said the Zero FIR also permitted the police to investigate the veracity of the audio clip, given its grave nature and possible violation of Section 89 of the BNS, which explicitly prohibits causing a miscarriage, without the woman’s consent, and attempts to infringe on the woman’s autonomy over her body by coercing her to do so. 

Such an offence, if proved, officials said, was also a violation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which safeguards the reproductive rights of women, including those outside the ambit of conventional marriage. The offences carry a punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment and a substantial fine, if proven in a court of law.