Thiruvananthapuram: The Additional Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram, will hear the anticipatory bail petition moved by Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly, caught in a woman abuse scandal, on October 15, Saturday. Police sources said Eldhose has suddenly gone off the radar, perhaps to evade arrest till his anticipatory bail application was taken up by the court.
Non-bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code, especially those relating to assault, criminal intimidation and outraging the modesty of a woman, were slapped on Kunnappilly after a woman accused him of physical abuse and abduction.
In his anticipatory bail petition, the MLA says that the complainant had first gotten in touch with him as a public relations expert managing social media accounts. This acquaintance gradually grew into a friendship. The petition says that the two used to meet at her house and in his office.
The MLA's allegation is that the woman was attempting to blackmail him for money after stealing his mobile from his office. According to him, the woman filed a complaint with the police only after he refused to pay.
The complainant, on her part, said that she had not stolen the MLA's mobile. "If his mobile was in my possession, wouldn't he have already gone to the police?" she asked. According to her, she decided to complain only after she was relentlessly harassed by the MLA and his friends.
Further, she had said that she had known Kunnappilly right from his first stint as MLA. However, she said she got closer to him only this July. But she said her experience with him was unpleasant. "I soon realised he was a bad man and had all sorts of dirty behaviour. I tried to wriggle out but he used force to keep me subjugated," she said. The complainant further said the MLA was a heavy drinker. Even top Congress leaders, on the condition of anonymity, conceded that Kunnappilly has a drinking issue.
Though she had not publicly accused the MLA of rape, police sources said her complaint and also her confidential statement before the magistrate had details of sexual abuse.
Kovalam SHO transferred
Kovalam Station House Officer (SHO) G Praiju has been transferred to the Pattanakkad station in Alappuzha after the complainant accused him of forcing her to reach a compromise in the case against Kunnappilly.
As per the complainant, the MLA initially told the SHO he would settle the issue for Rs 20 lakh. Later, in front of a lawyer arranged by the SHO on October 9, the figure was raised to Rs 30 lakh, she said. Praiju, who was not at the compromise meeting, asked her to send a WhatsApp message saying she had withdrawn her complaint, which she did not.
