Kerala HC Grants MLA Rahul Mamkootathil Temporary Protection from Arrest in Rape Case Until December 15

The Kerala High Court on Saturday (December 6, 2025) granted interim protection from arrest to expelled Congress leader Rahul Mamkootathil, MLA, who had been charged with rape and forced abortion in a case.

A Bench of Justice K. Babu restrained the police from arresting Mr. Mamkootathil during the pendency of an anticipatory bail plea he had moved before the court on Friday. The matter has been posted for hearing on December 15.

In the bail plea, Mr. Mamkootathil raised serious contentions and claimed there was admittedly a consensual relationship. None shall be condemned until heard, the court said.

Mr. Mamkootathil had in his bail petition contended that the allegations against him in the first information report (FIR) did not fall under the definition of rape. He added that he was ready to explain every circumstance of the allegations before the police, if given an opportunity, without fear of arrest.

He further said the complaint was “highly belated” and was directly submitted to the Chief Minister, instead of being filed through the “proper channel”. No custodial interrogation was needed and he is prepared to cooperate with the probe, he had submitted.

Mr. Mamkootathil has been charged with sexually exploiting a woman in the case registered against him by the Nemom police in Thiruvananthapuram. He approached the High Court with the anticipatory bail plea after the Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, dismissed his bail petition on Thursday.

In his plea before the High Court, Mr. Mamkootathil, 36, said he is “leading a bachelor life” and that he used to contact mediapersons since he was a politician. He thus got acquainted with the woman who said she was separated from her husband, and their relationship became stronger with the passage of time. A “confidence issue” developed between them when some voice clips that came up on social media were said to be harmful to her privacy. She suspected that he had leaked them, it was contended.

As Mr. Mamkootathil is a politician, opponents want to “encash” the situation in view of the forthcoming local body polls. Worried over the media propaganda, the woman did not have any other option but to disown the relationship with him “to save her skin.” The allegation of miscarriage and forced abortion is false, he said in his bail plea.