Activist Rahul Easwar Remanded After Bail Plea Dismissed in Cyber Defamation Case
Activist sent to judicial custody for allegedly exposing complainant’s identity.
Thiruvananthapuram Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Elsa Catherine George on Monday dismissed the anticipatory bail application of prominent activist Rahul Easwar and remanded him to 14-day judicial custody till December 15, in a case registered for allegedly defaming and revealing the identity of the woman who accused Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil of sexual assault.
Easwar, 43, was produced before the court at approximately 4:30 pm following his dramatic arrest by the Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police on Sunday evening. After hearing extensive arguments from both prosecution and defence in open court, the magistrate concluded that the gravity of the allegations and evidence presented in the remand report justified denial of bail and immediate judicial remand to Thiruvananthapuram District Jail.
The case stems from a complaint lodged by the survivor herself, who alleged that her photograph was deliberately circulated on social media platforms by Easwar and others, thereby breaching her privacy and causing further trauma at a time when she was already pursuing justice against the accused legislator. Police submitted video evidence and previous instances where Easwar had allegedly engaged in similar defamation of sexual assault complainants, strengthening their opposition to bail.
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In his defence, Easwar maintained that he never disclosed the complainant’s identity or shared her photographs, describing the arrest procedure as procedurally flawed since the statutory notice under Section 41A CrPC was served only moments before detention. He accused the police of misleading the court and announced from the courthouse steps that he would commence an indefinite hunger strike inside jail to protest what he termed a politically motivated prosecution.
The case has widened further with Congress leader Sandeep Warrier filing an anticipatory bail application before the District and Principal Sessions Court, asserting that a year-old marriage photograph he had posted resurfaced coincidentally and was not intended to identify the complainant. Police confirmed three additional individuals have now been arrayed as accused, indicating the investigation into the coordinated online campaign against the survivor continues to expand.
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