Rahul Mamkootathil
| Photo Credit: KK MUSTAFAH
The Kerala Police have decided to combine the two rape case investigations against Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathi under a single State Police Crime Branch team headed by Assistant Inspector General (AIG) G. Poonguzhali.
The move assumes significance against the backdrop of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan not ruling out the possibility of more “disclosures” after casting his vote in the local body polls in Kannur on Thursday.
The first case concerns the alleged rape and coerced termination of pregnancy of a woman in 2024. The second case concerns the accusation that the MLA had allegedly raped a 21-year-old woman at a homestay after requesting the “survivor’s” presence for discussing “prospective marriage” in 2023.
A team led by Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Thomson Jose is investigating the initial case, while another team led by Kerala Police Crime Branch, DYSP K Sajeevan, is examining the second.
Officials stated that the Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order and Crime Branch, H. Venkatesh, has proposed that Ms. Poonguzhali supervise both investigations, given the “broad comparability” of the offences.
Notably, Ms. Poonguzhali has considerable experience as the nodal officer for survivors who testified before the K. Hema Committee, which recorded allegations of sexual favours for film roles and gender inequality and entrenched misogyny in the Malayalam film industry.
Meanwhile, officials said the police have moved the High Court to cancel the anticipatory bail granted to Mr. Mamkootathil in the second case by the Principal Sessions and District Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
They said the Crime Branch believes that certain “inconsistencies” in the bail order, including “ruling on the merit of the case and viewing the belated nature of the complaint sceptically”, can work to the prosecution’s advantage.
The High Court had earlier granted Mr. Mamkootathil interim protection from arrest until it considers his anticipatory bail plea in the first case on Monday. The anticipatory bail in the second rape indictment enabled Mr. Mamkootathil to emerge from several days of “hiding” to cast his vote in the local body poll in his constituency in Palakkad.
Survivor’s statement recorded
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has recorded the survivor’s statement in the second case. The agency has reportedly moved the court to allow the survivor to record her voluntary statement before a magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023.
Investigators said, given that the passage of time could preclude direct evidence, including DNA and injury marks, they would back the woman’s testimony by building a chain of circumstantial evidence, including the cell phone location of the victim and the accused when the crime occurred.
Hence, the prosecution reportedly told the High Court that Mr. Mamkootathil’s custody was imperative for evidence collection and insulating the victim and potential witnesses from extraneous influence.
Published – December 12, 2025 11:17 am IST
