Congress MLA Anil Akkara, who is facing the heat over naming the survivor in the Thrissur gang rape case, said on Saturday that he had written consent of the woman.

In October, a 32-year-old woman from Thrissur had accused CPI (M) Wadakkanchery councillor Jayanthan and three others of raping her over two years ago, and using political power to suppress the case.

While addressing the media on Thursday, Anil Akkara named the survivor twice, as he read out her complaint before media persons.

See video here:

MLA Anil also accused the police of not carrying out the probe properly.

Following this, P C Ravi, a native of Parapookkara, submitted a complaint to the assistant commissioner pointing out that the MLA had committed a punishable offence.

On Saturday, Anil said that he would not have to face legal hassles, as he had the written consent of the woman. 

He maintained that although revealing the identity of a rape survivor was illegal, it could be done with the knowledge of the woman. Anil added that he hadn't intend to reveal her name, but had accidentally read it out, while reading portions of her complaint. 

Anil also alleged that he and his party workers were lathicharged by the police during a protest march on Friday, because he had tried to shed light on the lapses in the probe. Condemning the attack, the Congress observed a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Thrissur on Saturday. 

Earlier, Thrissur district President Radhakrishnan had also named the woman. However, he had maintained that it was only fair to reveal the victim’s name, since the accused Jayanthan’s name was out in the open. The police subsequently registered a case against Radhakrishnan.