KERALA WOMAN CLAIMS SHE WAS RAPED BY COUNCILLOR, FRIENDS 2 YEARS AGO

KERALA WOMAN CLAIMS SHE WAS RAPED BY COUNCILLOR, FRIENDS 2 YEARS AGO

In a shocking disclosure, a woman hailing from Thrissur has accused four persons, including a Wadakkanchery municipal councillor belonging to the CPI(M), of having raped her two years ago. She has also charged the local police with harassing her.The woman, mother of two, narrated her harrowing experience along with her husband at a news conference here on Thursday. She said all the four who had raped her were her husband’s close friends. She identified them as Jayanthan, the CPI(M) councillor, Shibu, Jineesh, and Bineesh. They allegedly took her on the pretext of seeing her husband, who was undergoing treatment for alcoholism, and raped her.

As the foursome threatened to publicise images of the rape on social media in the event of her approaching the police, she did not disclose the incident to anyone for over a year, she said. Her husband, whom she eventually told about the incident, confronted the four persons who responded by “harassing and threatening” the couple.

Following this, the couple decided to approach the police. However, the woman said, when they filed a case with the Peramangalam police in August, the Circle Inspector and other officers subjected her to humiliating questions. They pressured her into withdrawing the complaint and accepting an out-of-court settlement. The police also alleged that the couple was motivated by a dispute over a sum of Rs.3.5 lakh that Jayanthan owed them. The woman said she finally gave in, and changed her statement before the court. Her experience came to light through a Facebook post by award-winning dubbing artiste, writer and activist Bhagyalakshmi on Wednesday.

P N Jayanthan, CPM councillor of the 27th division in Wadakkanchery Municipality, has denied allegations of rape raised by a woman and her husband in Thrissur on Thursday.Jayanthan also expressed his willingness to resign from the councillor post. He said that he knows the woman and her husband and that they had taken a loan of `3 lakh from him in February 2015.

“They did not return the money so I asked them about it. Then they filed a case against me on August 2016. She withdrew the case in a statement given in front of Wadakkanchery Judicial First Magistrate on August 17. A few days ago, they called me and demanded `15 lakh. I refused to give them the money. They said that they would defame me in front of society. I told them that they could do anything they wished. Now, they are doing it,” Jayanthan said.

He added that Bineesh, Jineesh and Shiju (the three others who the woman has accused of gang raping her) got married over the last two years. “She alleges that the incident took place in 2014. After that, the woman and her husband attended all the marriages. She is deceiving Bhagyalakshmi,” Jayanthan said.

Prof. John Kurakar