Solar scam sexual abuse case: CBI searches Hibi Eden's room in MLA hostel

Hibi Eden
Hibi Eden

Thiruvananthapuram: The CBI sleuths investigating the alleged sexual exploitation of the prime accused in the sensational solar scam by a few prominent politicians in Kerala conducted an examination in the MLAs' Hostel in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

The CBI searched the room used by Congress leader and Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden when he was a legislator. The complainant woman has accused Hibi of sexually exploiting her at his room in the Nila Block of the hostel. The alleged incident dates back to 2012.

The CBI sleuths were accompanied by the complainant. She has raised similar complaints against Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

Earlier, the CBI had summoned the complainant to its Delhi office and recorded her statement.

The CBI took over the investigation into the separate cases over the sexual abuse in August 2021.

The cases against six leaders were registered over the last several years and investigated earlier by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police based on a complaint by the woman that she was sexually exploited by them in 2012. She is an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam that shook the Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front government nearly a decade ago.

The CPM-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI enquiry into the abuse cases last year, just ahead of the state polls.

The opposition Congress had dubbed the move as "politically motivated", saying the CPM-led government could not find anything against the party leaders and took the decision as elections were around the corner.

Besides Chandy, Venugopal and Hibi Eden, Adoor Prakash MP, A P Anil Kumar, and BJP leader A P Abdulla Kutty are the accused in six different cases registered over the sexual abuse charge.
The case against Kutty was registered in 2014 when he was a Congress MLA from Kannur. He later joined the BJP.

In a letter to the police commissioner on July 19, 2013, the woman had levelled charges of sexual misconduct and corruption against several Congress and UDF leaders, including Chandy, some of his ministers and two former Union ministers.

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