Chargesheet filed against 'Kiss of Love' activists Resmi and Rahul under POCSO

Rahul Pashupalan and Resmi Nair, who led the protests against moral policing attacks in Kochi in 2015, were first arrested four years ago.
Chargesheet filed against 'Kiss of Love' activists Resmi and Rahul under POCSO
Chargesheet filed against 'Kiss of Love' activists Resmi and Rahul under POCSO
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Kerala Kiss of Love (KoL) activists Rahul Pasupalan and Resmi Nair were booked by the Crime Branch under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Monday.

According to a report in The Hindu, Resmi has been named in the chargesheet for allegedly ‘pairing off’ underage girls with wealthy clients looking for paid sex. Rahul was accused of being aware of the racket, and co-operating with it. The chargesheet has been filed, four years after the First Information Report was registered.

The couple were first arrested in 2015 after an undercover operation ‘Operation Big Daddy’ led by IG S Sreejith. The operation resulted in the arrest of several people, after investigations on online advertisement for an ‘escort service’.

The police had impersonated as clients and got photographs and other details of the ‘service’ offered by women.  The women who were involved in the online sex racket were regarded as subjects of human trafficking and they were let go after counselling. Among the victims were also two minor girls from Bengaluru and this is what invited the POCSO Act in the charges. The girls had told the police that they were allegedly sexually assaulted and a medical examination confirmed this.

At the time there was a controversy over the arrest of the KoL activists who had protested the moral policing attacks in Kerala. Both Rahul and Resmi had then been in the news after KoL became a big movement of the youth in Kochi, with a gathering of hundreds organised to demonstrate the freedom of expressing affection in public places.

They were later granted bail in February 2016 on executing a bond of Rs 75,000 each and serving other conditions. The bail came after the court observed that the investigation had not been completed within the statutory period of 90 days.

The chargesheet was delayed since the police wanted to collect evidence from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.

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