Thiruvalla First Class Judicial Magistrate Arudhathi Dilip on Friday heard arguments on Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil’s bail plea and reserved it for January 17 orders.
The judge heard arguments behind closed doors at the request of the prosecution.
In her plea filed through advocate Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar, the MLA alleged that his arrest and the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him in the third sexual assault case were illegal.
Two more cases of sexual assault were filed against Mr. Mamkootathila on the basis of complaints by two separate women and he was protected from arrest by the Kerala High Court and the Thiruvananthapuram Magistrate’s Court in both.
A third case of sexual assault under sections 376 (rape) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was recently registered against the Palakkad MLA based on a complaint filed by a native of Kottayam district on January 8.
He was arrested in the case on January 11 from Palakkad.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against Feni Ninan, a close aide of Mr. Mamkootathila, for allegedly revealing the identity of the victim whose complaint led to the lawmaker’s arrest. Mr Ninan, a Youth Congress leader, released details of the case in a Facebook post on Friday.
According to Mr. Ninan, the Pathanamthitta Cyber Police have arrested him for non-bailable offences, alleging that he revealed the identity of the complainant and posted inappropriate content on social media.
“Anyone who has read my posts will understand that I did not reveal the identity of the complainant nor did I make any obscene remarks about her,” he said.
Published – 16 Jan 2026 21:08 IST
