The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in the first of three rape cases against him, Bar and Bench reported.
While granting bail, Justice Kauser Edappagath ordered Mamkootathil not to leave the country. As part of the bail conditions, the MLA was told to surrender his passport before the jurisdictional magistrate and was warned against attempts to influence the witnesses in the case.
The matter pertains to a complaint submitted directly to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on November 27 by a woman and her family, accusing the Palakkad MLA of rape, pregnancy through sexual assault and forced abortion.
The woman claimed that Mamkootathil recorded their intimate videos without her consent, adding that he also threatened to circulate them if she did not comply with his demands.
The bench was hearing a plea by Mamkootathil challenging a Thiruvananthapuram court’s refusal to grant him anticipatory bail in the case. On December 6, the High Court granted him interim protection from arrest in the matter.
On Thursday, the High Court ordered the expelled Congress leader to produce his mobile phone and appear before the investigating officer every second Saturday during the fixed time.
In his petition for anticipatory bail, Mamkootathil admitted to having a physical relationship with the complainant but claimed that it was entirely consensual.
However, the woman claimed that the MLA repeatedly attempted to mislead the High Court by presenting distorted versions of the event.
During the bail hearings, the High Court observed that Mamkootathil and the complainant had been in a consensual relationship before the alleged incident took place in March 2025, Bar and Bench reported. The bench was quoted as having said that the woman had admitted to have stayed with Mamkootathil after the incident for two days and had consensual sex.
Based on this statement by the complainant, the court asked the prosecution to clarify whether the alleged act in question was consensual sex or rape, Bar and Bench reported.
The prosecution was quoted as having told the court that it was a case of rape and alleged that the MLA had threatened the complainant with the videos.
However, the court said that it will examine the aspect of the videos separately.
He had already been granted bail in the other cases. In the second case, a sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram had granted him anticipatory bail on December 10.
On January 28, a sessions court in Pathanamthitta had granted him bail in the third rape case.
Mamkootathil had been arrested on January 11 in Palakkad after the complaint was filed in the third case.
In August, the Congress suspended Mamkootathil from its primary membership following multiple allegations from women of misconduct. Following this, he resigned from his post as the Kerala Youth Congress chief.
He was later expelled from the party but continues to serve as the MLA from Palakkad.
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