Rahul Mamkootathil granted anticipatory bail in second rape case
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major relief for Rahul Mamkootathil- MLA, the additional district and sessions court has granted him anticipatory bail in a second rape case registered against him on the complainant of a 23-year-old woman. Rahul's counsel had swiftly moved the pre-arrest bail after the High Court granted him protection from arrest in the first rape case till a verdict is given on his anticipatory bail plea, which is scheduled to be heard on December 15. The pre-arrest bail plea was moved on Saturday after the High Court gave Rahul an interim protection from arrest. Rahul's counsel argued that the allegation was politically motivated and there was no mention of the complainant's name, and place and time of occurrence of the alleged crime in the complaint. The complainant did not approach the police directly when she had all the options to do so and instead mailed it to the KPCC chief, which showed that there was something fishy in the move, the counsel argued. His lawyer also highlighted the High Court order and sought a favourable verdict. The prosecution countered this by arguing that the complainant has already given a detailed statement before the police and the allegation was serious in nature. The anticipatory bail plea was moved in the second case after the police appointed a special team to probe the case. The department had appointed AIG G Poonkuzhali to lead the team to investigate the complaint filed by a 23-year-old woman, who is a resident of Bengaluru. Poonkuzhali, who is now attached with the police headquarters, had recorded the statement of the complainant. The complainant had testified that she was raped after being given fake marriage promise. The offence took place in a homestay where she was brutally assaulted.
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