Kerala Rape Case: TV Commentator Rahul Easwar Arrested, Sent To 14-Day Judicial Custody; Suspended Cong MLA Mamkoottathil Still Absconding

Thiruvananthapuram: In a major development in the high-profile rape and forced-abortion case involving suspended Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil, a local court on Monday rejected the bail plea of TV commentator and activist Rahul Easwar and remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

Easwar, arrested earlier in the day for allegedly revealing the survivor’s identity during a televised debate, will now be taken to the sub-jail.

The police had picked him up from his residence in Powdikonam during an early-morning raid, during which investigators also seized his laptop and electronic devices. According to the police, the action followed evidence suggesting that Easwar had violated laws protecting the anonymity of sexual-assault survivors, a charge he and his family denied.

Even as he was being taken into custody, Easwar lashed out at the Kerala Police, calling his arrest “a freedom struggle for men” and alleging that authorities had ignored the Supreme Court’s Arnesh Kumar guidelines on arrests. “Police are claiming they served me notice, but no such notice was ever given. This is a blatant disregard of the Supreme Court verdict,” he said, adding that he would “continue speaking for Rahul Mamkoottathil”.

Outside the court, his wife Deepa Easwar defended him strongly, insisting that her husband had “never spoken the name of the victim” and asserting that both women and men “deserve a fair hearing” in sensitive cases.

Meanwhile, the arrest of Easwar, who has openly backed the suspended Congress MLA, has intensified scrutiny on the fact that the prime accused, Rahul Mamkoottathil, remains absconding.

Despite forming a special investigation team, conducting multiple raids and issuing lookout notices, police have been unable to trace the Palakkad MLA.

The rape case, which has shaken Kerala’s political establishment, centres on allegations that Mamkoottathil sexually assaulted a woman, impregnated her and later pressured her into undergoing an abortion. The emergence of audio clips and WhatsApp chats last week heightened public outrage, forcing the Congress to suspend him and distance itself from the controversy.

Easwar’s arrest has sparked parallel debates: one on the responsibility of media commentators and public figures in protecting survivor identities, and another on whether the investigation into the MLA has been allowed to drag on for too long.

Opposition leaders have accused the government of delaying the case, while women’s rights groups have demanded stronger enforcement of anonymity laws.

With Mamkoottathil still on the run and Easwar now behind bars, the case has entered a volatile phase, raising questions about policing, political shielding and public accountability.