Arrested AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu IT Minister M Manikandan has moved the Madras High Court seeking bail in a case of rape and cheating. Manikandan is now lodged in Puzhal jail after there were complaints that he was provided with VIP facilities like an air conditioner and a sofa at Saidapet sub-jail, where he was kept after being arrested in Bengaluru on June 20. The AIADMK leader, in his plea, said that the complainant is a Malaysian citizen and a movie actor, who fully knew the consequences of having a sexual relationship with a married man. The plea argued that even if her complaint of having sexual relationship with him on the promise of marrying her after divorcing his wife was true, it did not amount to rape.
The bail plea further claimed that the complaint had been lodged against him by the actor and her associates to avoid repayment of a loan amount of Rs 5 lakh that she had taken from him. Manikandan also said in his plea that he was a general surgeon, serving the Tamil Nadu government for 12 years, before entering politics and that he had a credible track record.
According to reports, the accused befriended the actor in 2017 on the pretense of starting a business in Malaysia. Soon, the former minister expressed his desire to marry her and had been in a live-in relationship for about five years. While promising to marry her, Manikandan had allegedly forced her to abort three pregnancies, as per the police complaint.
When the Malaysian-born actor, who has also acted in a few Tamil movies, asked Manikandan to marry her, he allegedly threatened her and her family of dire consequences. As per the actor’s complaint, the Adyar All-Women police station booked the former minister under sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 417 (punishment for cheating) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Manikandan was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Ramanathapuram constituency and held office between 2016 and 2019.