Kerala MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who was dismissed from Congress in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, was arrested on Sunday in the third rape case registered against him.
He had previously obtained pre-arrest bail in the two earlier rape cases. Following his arrest on Sunday, a court in Pathanamthitta remanded Mamkootathil in judicial custody for 14 days.
According to police, the incident that led to the latest case allegedly took place on April 8, 2024. The FIR was registered under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) on January 9.
As per the FIR, the complainant told the Crime Branch that she had befriended Mamkootathil via social media, and that he had promised to marry her, after which he allegedly lured her to a hotel room in Pathanamthitta’s Thiruvalla town. The woman, who is currently away from Kerala, alleged that Mamkootathil raped her in the hotel room, and that when she resisted, he allegedly threatened and physically assaulted her. The complainant also claimed that she was impregnated by Mamkootathil.
In their report seeking custody of the arrested MLA, police told the court that Mamkootathil is a habitual offender and that in previous cases, he had allegedly tried to threaten survivors even after FIRs were registered. He had also allegedly engaged in cyberbullying of the complainants, they said, also claiming that he had refused to allow his digital devices to be examined as part of the probe.
Following the complaint from the woman, police on January 8 recorded her statement through video call, and subsequently, the Crime Branch registered the third FIR against the MLA.
In the two previous cases, Mamkootathil had managed to evade police and remained elusive until he got relief from the courts.
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Hence, in the third complaint, police did not reveal the details of the FIR until a team knocked on his hotel room in Palakkad, the constituency which he represents in the Assembly. In a midnight swoop, police nabbed Mamkootathil and brought him to Pathanamthitta, where the case is registered.
Police said they have collected his blood samples for DNA examination.
A common factor running through the three cases is the allegation that Mamkootathil had sexually abused the women after promising to marry them. In all three cases, the MLA had allegedly befriended the women on social media, and in two of the cases, the women alleged that they were impregnated and then forced to undergo an abortion.
The other cases
In the first case registered last November, the MLA was booked on charges of rape, forcing a woman to undergo miscarriage, physically hurting a woman, and criminal intimidation, among other charges.
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Although a magistrate court had denied pre-arrest bail, Mamkootathil got a reprieve from the High Court till January 21.
In the second rape case, the district court in Thiruvananthapuram granted him pre-arrest bail in the absence of prima facie material that linked him to the offence and considering the delay in moving a complaint. In the second complaint, the survivor had alleged that Mamkootathil invited her to a house under the guise of discussing marriage.
Mamkootathil, who became an MLA in November 2024, was removed as the state president of the Youth Congress when he faced charges of sexual misconduct. He was also suspended from the party. Later, after the second FIR was registered, Congress decided to expel its once rising star.
