'Love you to moon and back': CM expresses solidarity with sexual assault survivor through teacup message

When the LDF government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to the streets on Monday to hold a satyagraha against the Centre for squeezing the state's finances, the political message was clear. However, what caught public attention was a silent moral message he conveyed to the survivor in the sexual assault case involving Rahul Mamkootathil MLA.

On the Chief Minister's teacup were the words, "Love you to moon and back"- the same phrase the survivor had written on social media following Rahul's arrest. Pinarayi's gesture during the heated political protest against the Centre was widely seen as a sign that the government stood with the survivor, expressing solidarity without words.

Rahul Mamkootathil was arrested around midnight on Saturday by the Crime Branch in connection with a rape case registered against him. The woman had earlier filed another sexual assault complaint, which led the Nemom police to register the first case against Mamkootathil.

Following his arrest, she took to social media in an emotional post, expressing her gratitude and thanking God for giving survivors the strength to speak out despite the "pain, judgment and betrayal" they had faced. "You saw what was done in the dark," she wrote, alluding to the alleged crimes.

The survivor also lamented the loss of her baby, who never got a chance to see the world, referring to the alleged forced termination of her pregnancies. She said God had heard the "cries that never reached the world" and stood by them when their bodies were violated and their babies were "taken by force."

She sought forgiveness from her unborn children, saying she had trusted the wrong person and that he was a man "unworthy of being our child's father."

"Let their souls rest in peace, free from violence, free from fear, free from the world that failed to protect us. Our little ones, if our tears reach heaven, let them tell you this...Your mother never forgot you. Your mother never forgot you," she took to Facebook. 

Meanwhile, the Thiruvalla Judicial First Class Magistrate Court has ordered the police to present Rahul directly in court tomorrow. The court will consider Rahul's bail application and the police's custody application tomorrow.