HC grants Rahul Mamkoothatil interim protection from arrest till Thursday

The Kerala High Court on Monday extended till Thursday the interim protection from arrest to expelled Congress leader Rahul Mamkootathil, MLA, who had been charged with rape and forced abortion.

A case in this regard had been registered by Nemom Police, Thiruvananthapuram. A Bench of Justice K. Babu posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.

Mr. Mamkootathil had approached the High Court with an anticipatory bail plea, earlier this month. In the bail plea, he claimed that there was admittedly a consensual relationship with the woman who levelled the rape and forced abortion allegations. He approached the court with the anticipatory bail plea after the Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, dismissed his bail petition.

He had contended that his political opponents wanted to cash in on the situation, in view of the local body polls (that concluded on December 11). The allegation of miscarriage and forced abortion is false, he said in his plea.

Second case

Meanwhile, the State government on Monday approached the High Court, challenging the anticipatory bail that the Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, had granted him in a second rape case he had been charged with. A Bench of Justice Viju Abraham then granted time to Mr. Mamkootathil to file objections against the government’s plea and posted the matter for hearing after after the court’s impending vacation.

As per the alleged victim, a woman studying outside Kerala, Mr. Mamkootathil contacted her through messaging app Telegram, gave her false assurance of marriage and took her to an isolated home stay-like building when she was assaulted and raped, causing her grievous injuries. The court had granted him bail, citing absence of prima facie materials linking him to the alleged offence.

The government approached the High Court, contending that the trial court failed to appreciate the gravity of the allegations and the materials collected during the probe, which it said established his role in the non-bailable offence.