Overview
- Thiruvananthapuram’s sessions court denied anticipatory bail, citing prima facie evidence including audio and chat records in a case booked under BNS provisions for rape and forced miscarriage and IT Act Section 66E.
- Police report he is on the run; a lookout has been issued and searches have expanded to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with a driver who took him to Bengaluru detained.
- The Kerala Congress expelled the Palakkad legislator after the court order, and party leaders urged him to resign his Assembly seat.
- A second sexual-assault case has been registered by the Crime Branch, and an SIT led by AIG G. Poonguzhali is overseeing the probe as investigators move to record the complainant’s statement.
- Mamkootathil has moved the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail and interim protection from arrest following the lower court’s rejection.