Palakkad: The sexual abuse case that put the CPM in an embarrassing position came to light after a newborn was found abandoned on the backyard of a house at Mankara on March 16. The baby, hardly a day old, was eaten by ants and its umbilical cord was not severed.
Hariprasad and family were startled to hear the baby's wail around 1 pm. They took the baby to a hospital at Pathirippala with the help of neighbours and informed the Mankara police, who took custody of the baby and transferred it to the district hospital in an ambulance.
A subsequent investigation led to the mother of the newborn, who said that she conceived after being sexually abused by her former college-mate. The case assumed political colour when she said the incident happened inside an office of the CPM, where they had gone to work on the campus magazine.
The accused, however, said that he had visited the girl in the house she had rented along with her mother. He is running a small business in the locality. He is learned to have offered to marry the woman.
Both of them were students of a college at Cherpulassery and active members of the party’s youth wing when the incident took place.
It was learnt that the girl told the police that the accused took her to the room allotted to the youth wing in the party office on the pretext of discussing matters related to the publication of college magazine and sexually abused her.
A police probe has been initiated after the 21-year-old woman filed a complaint, alleging she was raped inside the CPM's area committee office at Cheruplassery.
A local CPM leader said the woman is an SFI activist and her family has close links with the party.
The party would probe if such an incident has taken place in its office and police also should conduct a 'truthful' and 'scientific' probe, he added.
The woman and the newborn have been hospitalised.
