Rahul Mamkootathil granted bail in third sexual assault case

A COURT in Pathanamthitta granted bail to expelled Congress leader and Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in the third sexual assault case filed against him on Wednesday. The bail order was issued by Principal District and Sessions Judge N. Harikumar.

Mamkootathil had approached the sessions court after a magisterial court denied him bail on January 17, citing the seriousness of the allegations and his "similar antecedents."

The MLA was arrested on January 11 following a complaint filed by a woman from Kottayam district on January 8. An FIR has been lodged against him under Sections 376 (rape) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

During the hearing, Mamkootathil denied the allegations, asserting that his relationship with the complainant was consensual. He claimed that he had ended the relationship upon learning of her marital status and argued that the entire case was an attempt to damage his public image.

Earlier, both the Kerala High Court and a sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram had granted the MLA protection from arrest in the first two sexual assault cases, which were filed based on complaints from two different women.

The high court will hear his bail application in the first case later today.

Mamkootathil successfully contested the by-election from Palakkad last year after Congress leader Shafi Parampil, who had earlier represented the constituency, won the Lok Sabha by-poll from Vadakara in Kozhikode district.

Following the sexual assault allegation, Congress expelled him from the party.