Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 8 (IANS) A court here on Monday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in the second sexual assault case against him, even as it issued an oral direction to the investigation team not to take any coercive or serious action against the accused until the order is pronounced on Wednesday.

The relief came amid intensified legal and police action following the registration of a second case based on a fresh complaint of rape.

The complainant has already given a detailed statement before the police, alleging that she was sexually assaulted despite pleading for mercy and physically clinging to the accused in an attempt to escape.

According to her testimony, repeated threats and persistent intimidation prevented her from speaking out earlier.

The statement was recorded by SP Poonguzhali, and both her testimony and the digital evidence have been submitted before the court.

The second case follows a series of allegations that Rahul, after developing a relationship with the complainant under the promise of marriage, allegedly lured the survivor to a homestay and subjected her to sexual assault.

The survivor has handed over digital evidence, including WhatsApp chats, voice messages and other electronic records, to support her claims.

This relief for Rahul Mamkootathil came after the High Court last week stayed his arrest in the first sexual assault case until the 15th of this month.

Rahul Mamkootathil’s counsel argued that the complaint was politically motivated and lacked credibility, while the prosecution strongly opposed any pre-arrest relief, citing the gravity of the allegations and the availability of corroborative digital evidence.

Meanwhile, police efforts to trace the Congress leader continue, as he has been evading arrest since going into hiding on the 27th of last month.

A new special team has been constituted after suspicions arose that information from the earlier search operation had been leaking.

The first team, which carried out searches for over a week, has returned from Karnataka.

The new team is expected to resume operations shortly.

–IANS

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