Kunnapillil gets anticipatory bail

Thiruvananthapuram: The additional sessions court here on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to rape-accused Perumbavoor MLA Eldose Kunnapillil in the second case against him, based on the survivor’s statement at Vanchiyoor police station that he assaulted her and forced her to sign on a paper compromising the case.
While granting the bail, the court observed that it is strange to find that the original statement under Section 161 of CrPC allegedly made by the survivor on October 10 is missing in the case diary and no explanation is made available in this regard. The non-bailable charge under Section 384 of IPC for forcefully signing on papers is not prima facie completed, said the court.
The bail was granted on a bond of a sum of Rs 1,00,000 together with two solvent sureties of the like sum. The MLA has to appear before the Vanchiyoor police on November 10 or 11 and he has to fully cooperate with the probe. He is not supposed to influence the witnesses and contact or interact with the victim. The petitioner shall not indulge in any form of attack on the victim either through social media or other forms of communications. He should not indulge in any similar offence and should not do any acts that may intimidate the victim.
Meanwhile, the survivor has approached the high court with a plea challenging the bail. Last week, prosecution had challenged the bail granted to him in the first case, but the high court directed to let the accused appear before the probe team for 10 more days. The petition can be considered at a later stage. Kunnapillil, meanwhile, appeared before the investigating officers at the district crime branch office for interrogation on Thursday.