Rahul’s three-day custody ends today; police to record confidential statement of complainant abroad

PATHANAMTHITTA: The three-day custody of Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, arrested in a sexual abuse case, will end today. He will be produced before the Pathanamthitta First Class Magistrate Court at 2 pm. It is heard that the special investigation team will not seek further custody. Rahul will be sent back to the jail. The Thiruvalla court is likely to consider the bail plea of Rahul tomorrow.

Reports say Rahul is not fully cooperating with the investigation. The police are trying to collect digital evidence. The team had earlier taken into custody two of his mobile phones. Rahul has so far not given the passwords of them. Rahul's claim is that there is evidence in favor of him on his two phones and the police will destroy them if they get it. It has not been possible to recover it. The police have decided to open Rahul's phones using scientific methods.

The confidential statement of the complainant has not been recorded yet. It has been decided to record the statement of the woman living abroad through video conferencing with the help of the Indian Embassy. The special investigation team is planning to move the high court on Monday to seek permission for this.

Meantime, D K Murali MLA has filed a complaint with the Speaker demanding that Rahul be disqualified from the MLA’s post. The complaint is that he should be disqualified as per the Assembly rules as he is being accused in a criminal case repeatedly.