A rape case has been registered against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, 36, at the Museum police station in Thiruvananthapuram following a formal complaint lodged by a woman directly with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The complaint, accompanied by an audio clip allegedly featuring the MLA pressuring the woman to terminate a pregnancy, was immediately forwarded by the Chief Minister to the State Police Chief, resulting in the registration of charges under sections for rape and criminal intimidation related to abortion.

The case invokes serious provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including rape (Section 376) and coercion to undergo abortion. The emergence of the fresh audio, in which the MLA is purportedly heard first expressing desire for a child and later insisting on termination, has intensified public and political outrage against the Palakkad legislator who won the seat in a November 2024 by-election.

Mamkootathil, who has reportedly been unreachable since the complaint surfaced, issued a brief social media statement asserting his innocence and vowing to fight the allegations both in court and “in the court of the people.” The Congress had already suspended him from primary membership on August 25 and accepted his resignation as Kerala Youth Congress president after earlier allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced through audio clips and chat screenshots.

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This is not the first instance of serious accusations against the MLA. Prior complaints from a Malayalam actor, several other women, and a transgender person had triggered a Crime Branch probe earlier this year, initiated on the basis of third-party emails when the present complainant had not formally come forward. The latest direct complaint has now escalated the matter into a full-fledged criminal investigation.

With multiple cases now pending against one of its sitting legislators, the Congress in Kerala faces mounting pressure to distance itself further from Mamkootathil, while the ruling Left Democratic Front has seized the opportunity to attack the opposition’s moral credentials ahead of crucial local body elections.

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