Kerala Crime Branch questions Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in rape case

Crime Branch is questioning Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil at the State Police Club in Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in connection with a rape and forced pregnancy case registered against him in November 2025.

Mr. Mamkootathil arrived at the club in the early hours of Monday, February 16, 2026, and appeared before the investigating officer, G. Poonguzhali.

The Kerala High Court granted anticipatory bail to Mr. Mamkootathil last Thursday in the case, which was first registered by the Nemom police in Thiruvananthapuram and later transferred to the Crime Branch.

The Crime Branch had opposed bail on the grounds that Mr Mamkooathil was extremely reluctant to cooperate with the investigation and refused to share the passwords of digital devices he used for private communications with the victim. The agency also accused Mr. Mamkootathil of concealing from investigators several other mobile phones involved in the alleged crime.

As a result, the High Court directed Mr. Mamkooathil to cooperate with the investigation as one of several pre-conditions for granting anticipatory bail. He ordered Mr Mamkootathil to hand over the “secret” phones and share their passwords with investigators. The Supreme Court allowed the agency to interrogate Mr. Mamkooathil for three days, officials said. Inquiry must start at 10:00 and end at 16:00 every day.

Police had expedited the case after the complainant met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in November last year. The Crime Branch is investigating Mr. Mamkooathil on charges of obtaining the victim’s sexual consent through deceptive means by promising marriage and then threatening to terminate her pregnancy.

Familiar under the lens

The agency is also investigating Palakkad MLA’s acquaintance Joby Thomas; This person is accused of providing the survivor with medications that caused her miscarriage without a doctor’s prescription and forcing her to consume them while watching videos on her cell phone to ensure compliance. Mr Thomas was granted bail in the case and denied the charges.

Officials said the agency was seeking a legal opinion to determine whether the offenses fell under provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act or the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which protect women’s reproductive rights, including outside the scope of traditional marriage.

Mr Mamkooathil has since denied the accusations. Her lawyer told the court that the legislator was the victim of a “political conspiracy” allegedly at the behest of the survivor’s husband, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. Mr Mamkooathil portrayed the relationship as consensual.

The Crime Branch had earlier recorded the survivor’s affidavit given in camera to a magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.