Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday extended interim protection from arrest to expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in the second rape case filed against him. The protection will remain in effect until January 21.

Mamkootathil has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman and coercing her into undergoing an abortion.

The court also considered the complainant’s impleading petition, in which she requested to be added as a party to Mamkootathil’s anticipatory bail plea. Highlighting that she has been subjected to multiple cyber attacks, she has already filed a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram City Cyber Police.

The complainant alleged that Rahul Mamkootathil and his supporters, including Rahul Easwar, are defaming her on social media—a violation, she claims, of the conditions of the bail previously granted to Mamkootathil. She also informed the High Court that she has received serious threats from the accused’s supporters, and that granting bail to Mamkootathil could put her life at risk.

The court granted the complainant two weeks to file her counter-affidavit. After detailed arguments on January 21, it will decide on the anticipatory bail plea.

MLA’s response

The former MLA, who was expelled from the Congress party on December 4 following the allegations, has maintained his innocence. He has claimed that his relationship with the complainant was consensual and that the complaint was lodged only after the relationship soured.

Mamkootathil had gone into hiding after the police registered the case against him but returned after the High Court granted him interim relief on December 6.