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Woman submits sexual harassment complaint with Kerala CM against Rahul Mamkootathil

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could prove costly for opposition UDF in the locla body poll, awoman filed a sexual harassment complaint before Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil. The complaint, which alleges sexuaL harassment by the Palakkad MLA, was submittedd along with digital evidences. The complainant met Pinarayi Vijayan in person and handed over the complaint at the Secretariate on Thursday. Voice clips of Rahul forcing a woman to perform abortion had earlier surfaced on social media. As per reports, the CM has transferred the complaint tothe State Police Chief. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual harssment allegations against the MLA, will carry out further probe into the same However, following the recent developments, Rahul Mamkoottathil wrote on his Facebook wall that he is innocent, and he will proceed legally against the complaint. Earlier in the day, Youth Congress state general secretary Sajana B Sajan had filed a complaint against the leader to the Congress high command demanding organisational inquiry against the MLA. Meanwhile, news agency PTI reported that reacting to the development, the Palakkad MLA said he would fight the case legally. As long as I am convinced that I have done no wrong, I will continue to fight legally. I will prove everything in the court of law as well as in the court of the people. Truth will prevai, he wrote on his Facebook page. State Health Minister Veena George expressed solidarity with the victim, saying Kerala is with her. Dear sister, Do not lose strength. Kerala is with you, she said in a social media post. Earlier, the Crime Branch had opened a case based on the initial audio clips and the chat messages. That case was triggered by an email sent to the police headquarters by a few individuals, all of them third parties, as the woman herself had not come forward at the time. Two days ago, a new purported audio clip was released in which he was heard insisting that he wanted a child, before later urging her to undergo an abortion. He was suspended from the primary membership of the Congress on August 25 following the allegations. The Palakkad MLA had earlier resigned as Youth Congress state president after Malayalam actress Rini Ann George accused a young leader of a well-known political party of misbehaviour, triggering protests by the BJP and the DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M). Subsequently, several women and a transgender person levelled similar allegations against him. Mankootathil was elected as MLA in November last year in a by-election for the Palakkad seat, following the election of party leader and then sitting MLA Shafi Parambil as Lok Sabha MP from Vatakara in the general election. (With additional inputs from PTI)