His comments came a day after the Congress expelled him from the party, soon after a court in Kerala rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the first rape case, which was registered after a woman filed a complaint with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
He suggested that certain individuals may have helped the suspect evade arrest.
“Some have taken steps to protect this suspect and help him escape. There are even reports indicating the places where he is hiding, including that he is in Karnataka. We must question whether these steps are being deliberately taken to protect him,” he said, urging that such support “must stop at least from now on.”
The Chief Minister said the police were expected to work efficiently and locate the absconding leader. “He must be caught. No one is against him being caught, right? The police are doing everything they can to make that happen,” he added.
Reacting to the Congress’ claim that the CPI(M) had not taken disciplinary action against its own accused lawmakers, Vijayan questioned the party’s claims of taking ‘exemplary steps’.
He said the Congress itself had leaders who were jailed but not expelled from the party.
“Besides the Opposition Leader, there may be a leader among them who has been in jail for committing a crime like this. Have they removed them? Some Congress MLAs have been in jail, have they expelled them from the party?” he asked.
Vijayan said the government has acted seriously in Rahul Mamkootathil’s case due to the disturbing nature of the allegations.
“Look at the details that came out. How terrifying were those details. His actions were clearly those of a person with sexual perversion. Were they appropriate for a public representative or society?” he said, adding that such a person should have been removed from public life as soon as complaints surfaced.
He also alleged that the Congress leadership had prior knowledge of the allegations. “These are not new. It is said that the leadership itself knew it before,” he said, adding that he did not want to repeat the details because they were “shocking to anyone with a conscience.”
– Ends
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