A Malayalam journalist on Sunday claimed that she met the woman who was threatened by Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in the leaked phone conversation. Senior scribe Lakshmi Padma said that the woman is in mental trauma due to ongoing slut-shaming and the health issues caused by the unscientific abortion.
Lakshmi Padma, in a post on Facebook, claimed that she wanted to confirm that such a woman exists, as many are claiming that she was an imaginary character, and so were her pregnancy and abortion. The survivor and her family were not mentally prepared to move legally against Rahul Mamkootathil, the post claimed. She was concerned that her identity would be revealed to the public.
Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil had to step down as the chief of the Kerala unit of the Youth Congress after an actress accused a "young political leader" of inappropriate behaviour. Meanwhile, multiple audio clips of a telephonic conversation reportedly alleged Rahul of forcing and threatening a woman to terminate her pregnancy. While the woman insisted that she wanted to keep her child, Rahul wanted her to abort as he was worried it would affect his life. The woman maintained that nobody would have to know that Rahul was the child's father, but the Congress leader was not convinced. The conversations included Rahul asking if she was okay with raising a child who would be seen as a bastard by society, before claiming that it would only take him a few seconds to kill her.
After Malayalam news channels aired the audio clips, it was revealed that as many as nine women had filed complaints against him with the All India Congress Committee (AICC), and he remains suspended from Congress membership.
"I met her," began Lakshmi Padma's Facebook post in Malayalam. "This is to those saying that the audios that came out in connection with Rahul Mamkootathil are fake, that no such girl exists, and that there was neither a pregnancy nor an abortion. Such a girl does exist, and she is under severe psychological trauma. There are after-effects of an unsafe abortion and the constant slut-shaming happening around her. I saw a person who was completely shaken, someone who hasn’t been able to properly sleep or eat for many days. Still, she finds some solace in the thought that, if this issue coming out helps at least a few women escape such traps, then it isn’t entirely in vain," the post read.
Lakshmi Padma accused Rahul Mamkootathil of still being able to control many of his victims. "The realities are much more serious than what we know outside. From what I have understood, he (Rahul) is still managing to control even the people he has victimised—and the investigation must reach into that," the post read.
"And one more thing: to all those groups asking if I personally had a bad experience with him—I haven’t. He has always interacted with me respectfully," the post said.
"After listening to her, I felt deeply that in our society, girls often cannot come forward with complaints because of the circumstances around them. While there are efforts on social media to whitewash the predator, how many women are crushed underfoot in the process? Add to that the political mudslinging from all sides. If we want to make our land a place where women can live with their heads held high, collective efforts are needed."