The State police on Friday moved the Speaker for permission to arrest M. Vincent, Kovalam MLA, on the suspicion of raping a 51-year-old woman, his neighbour.
The incident came to light early Wednesday after the woman was admitted to a private hospital following a near-fatal overdose of painkillers.
Victim’s statement
A magistrate visited the victim at her sick bed and recorded her statement. Investigators said they registered a case of rape against the Congress legislator on the merit of the woman’s sworn statement.
They had also booked Mr. Vincent on the suspicion of driving the woman to attempt suicide.
The police said the woman and her husband had once approached the legislator to seek protection from a person who constantly pestered her.
Subsequently, the MLA directed the local police to probe the matter.
The prosecution case was that the MLA then struck up a non-consensual relationship with the woman, which resulted in she being sexually abused at her home repeatedly.
The victim subsequently told a local priest and the mother superior of a nearby convent of her predicament. The police recorded their statements and also subjected the woman to a medical examination.
They found that the legislator had called the woman over 900 times, mostly at odd hours, in the past months. The barrage of unsolicited calls had prompted the woman to block the legislator’s number.
The police also seized as evidence the recording of an allegedly incriminating phone call between the legislator and the victim’s relative after she attempted suicide.
CPI(M) plot: MLA
Mr. Vincent told The Hindu that the entire episode was a set-up to falsely incriminate him in a criminal case. He alleged that CPI(M) workers had orchestrated the plot. According to a plan, they were present in the woman’s house when she consumed the painkillers. They rushed her to the hospital.
The police recorded the woman’s husband’s statement in the presence of a CPI(M) MLA. Mr. Vincent said he would battle out the charges in court.