Crime Branch questions Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in rape case

Kerala Crime Branch interrogates Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in a rape and coerced pregnancy case amid allegations of deceit and conspiracy.

The Crime Branch is questioning Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil at the State Police Club in Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in connection with a rape and coerced pregnancy case registered against him in November 2025.

Mr. Mamkootathil turned up at the club early Monday (February 16, 2026) and presented himself before the investigating officer, G. Poonguzhali.

The Kerala High Court granted anticipatory bail to Mr. Mamkootathil last Thursday in the case registered initially by the Nemom police in Thiruvananthapuram and subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch. 

The Crime Branch had opposed bail on the grounds that Mr. Mamkootathil was markedly reluctant to cooperate with the investigation and had refused to share the passwords for the digital devices he used for private communications with the survivor. The agency also accused Mr. Mamkootathil of concealing several other mobile phones involved in the alleged offence from investigators. 

Consequently, the High Court directed Mr. Mamkootathil to cooperate with the investigation as one of the several preconditions for anticipatory bail. It ordered Mr. Mamkootathil to surrender the “concealed” phones and share their passwords with investigators. Officials said the High Court has granted the agency leave to question Mr. Mamkootathil for three days. The questioning should commence at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. each day. 

The police had fast-tracked the case after the complainant met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in November last year. The Crime Branch is investigating Mr. Mamkootathil on the charge of obtaining the survivor’s sexual consent through deceitful means by promising marriage and subsequently threatening her to terminate the pregnancy.