The Principal District and Sessions Court in Thiruvananthapuram denied anticipatory bail for absconding MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil in the rape and coerced abortion case registered on November 28. In the aftermath of the verdict, the Congress dismissed the MLA from primary membership.
On December 3, the court held proceedings in camera after Mamkoottathil filed an application requesting it. The matter was then posted for December 4 for further hearing and for producing certain materials relied on by the prosecution.
Mamkoottathil's counsel argued that the case was politically motivated and that the relationship with the complainant had been consensual. The prosecution opposed bail, citing risks to the investigation, the possibility of witness intimidation, and the gravity of the charges.
On December 2, KPCC president Sunny Joseph received a fresh anonymous complaint of sexual assault against the MLA, who had been suspended from the Congress back in August after the first allegations surfaced. Joseph forwarded the new complaint to the police. Reportedly, the prosecution also submitted details of this complaint while arguing against granting bail.
Late decision?
Though the KPCC leadership had been under immense pressure to dismiss the absconding MLA, it chose to wait for the court’s decision before acting. The December 3 complainant—who says she is a 23-year-old woman—wrote that she felt morally compelled to speak up after hearing the KPCC president publicly state that no complaints had been received against Rahul. “I am not seeking publicity or sympathy,” she wrote, adding that Rahul is a sexual predator who systematically misuses political power to groom, deceive, and exploit young women. The KPCC president said he forwarded her complaint to the DGP and advised her to pursue legal action.
After the complaint became public, several senior Congress leaders explicitly demanded Mamkoottathil’s expulsion. Senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan said it was time to use the “Brahmastra,” adding that the Palakkad MLA was on his way out and his supporters could follow him. Others, including V. M. Sudheeran and Shanimol Usman, also urged immediate expulsion. The KPCC president, however, maintained that the party had already taken the appropriate decision—in consultation with senior leaders—and that any further action would be taken at the “appropriate time.”
When the first complainant approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directly, Congress leaders reacted in strikingly mixed ways. Some blamed Mamkoottathil for provoking the complainant, the media, and even his own party; others partially defended him by suggesting that such controversies routinely surface before elections. Political observer and author K. C. Umesh Babu told The Week that the leadership’s ambiguity has already caused significant damage. “What we see is that because of Mamkoottathil, the Congress and the UDF entered this [local body election] fray on the defensive,” he said.
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Although the Congress has attempted to frame the controversy as an LDF ploy to divert attention from the Sabarimala gold theft case—where two senior CPI(M) leaders are already in jail—the effort has not proved effective. The Congress has adopted the slogan “Temple Thieves Get Out” for the local body polls, but observers note that the emotional and sensational weight of the Mamkoottathil case has pushed the party into a defensive posture.
Allegations of sexual misconduct against Mamkoottathil first surfaced in August. At the time, the Congress suspended him but stopped short of asking him to resign as MLA. One justification offered was that a by-election could favour the BJP, which had finished a strong second in last year’s by-poll. Now, with less than four months left for the assembly elections, a by-election is no longer possible. Yet KPCC president Sunny Joseph continues to wait for the “appropriate time” to take further action and reiterates that the party cannot make decisions based on media pressure.
Babu argues that August was the Congress’s best opportunity to secure his resignation. “They should have taken his resignation, admitted publicly that the party erred in this individual’s case, and fielded a woman candidate if a by-election had arisen in Palakkad,” he said.
Notably, leaders who took a strong stand against Mamkoottathil—especially Opposition Leader V. D. Satheesan—faced heavy cyber-attacks from within the Congress’s own cadres over the last three months. Yet the KPCC has still not taken serious disciplinary action against these cyber-cadres.
