‘I believe that truth will prevail,’ says Rahul Mamkootathil in Palakkad

Palakkad, Kerala: Expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who had been absconding for several days over the sexual assault case, on Thursday cast his vote in the local body elections at Kunnathurmedu ward, asserting that all matters concerning him are before the court.

“The only thing I want to say today is that everything I have to say, and everything said against me, is before the honourable court. I believe that truth will prevail,” Mamkootathil told reporters, declining to comment further on his whereabouts over the past two weeks.

The Palakkad MLA had been absconding since the first FIR was registered against him for sexual assault and forced abortion. He turned up at the polling station after securing interim protection from arrest in that case and anticipatory bail in a second sexual assault case filed by a woman from Bengaluru.

As he stepped out of the booth, reporters pressed him for details, but he quickly left the premises in a vehicle displaying the MLA board. Outside, activists from the CPM youth wing, DYFI, staged a protest, hoisting placards depicting cradles and roosters while shouting slogans against him.

In the first case, the Kerala High Court granted interim protection from arrest, while in the second, the Thiruvananthapuram sessions court provided anticipatory bail.