Covering her face with a red and black shawl, the Kerala woman, who submitted a police complaint alleging abuse by Perumbavoor Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Eldhose Kunnappilly, met the media on the morning of October 12, Wednesday. Speaking about the physical assault she had allegedly faced at the hands of the Congress MLA, she pointed out that the complaint she made before the police seemed to be getting delayed for action. She also mentioned an alleged offer of money from the MLA to bring the case to a compromise, besides playing a recording in which Eldhose is allegedly speaking about her to a media person.
The assault is said to have taken place on September 14, when the MLA allegedly came drunk to the survivor’s house in Thiruvananthapuram and insisted that she accompany him. She was beaten up and forced to go with him, she said. More attacks followed in the car, according to her complaint, and finally she had to be taken to the general hospital for treatment. “It was not I who called the police on that day, the onlookers who witnessed the attack did. When people gathered, the MLA claimed that I was his wife and took me away,” the woman said.
Their acquaintance began years ago, when Eldhose was first elected as an MLA of the Congress party in 2016, she said. He is currently in his second term. The woman had reportedly met him through a friend of hers, who worked as a staff of the MLA. It was however only this July that she became closer with the MLA, she said. Things allegedly went wrong in the months after that, and according to her complaint, Eldhose had taken her to several places and assaulted her. She did not answer questions on whether it was sexual assault, stating that she had already revealed all those details before the court on Tuesday, when she made her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“I had first taken my complaint to the Women’s Cell. But since it is against an MLA, I was directed to go to the Commissioner’s office. The Commissioner then transferred the case to the Kovalam station [since the assault happened in their jurisdiction]. I went there with the complaint on September 28. When I went to the station on October 1, the police officer there asked for more time. I was next called on October 7, and again told midway that I should come the next day. On October 8, I saw the Circle Inspector and the MLA together. They spoke to me about a compromise (money to the tune of Rs 30 lakh), which I didn’t agree to. On October 9, I was once again physically assaulted by the MLA,” the woman said.
After the attack on October 9, she took off to Kanyakumari, climbing one random bus after another, not knowing where to go, she said. She had planned to die by suicide, and had even left her identity cards behind at home so that her body would not be recognised, the complainant said. She did not want to bring shame to her relatives, she added. But a friend had by then filed a missing complaint concerning her, and the police contacted her again. She told the police that she could not stay home, owing to the pressure on her to bring the case to a close. She is alone, and there is no one to fight for her, the woman said, breaking down.
When her complaint came out in the public, social media posts threatening her and speaking derogatorily about her began to emerge, the woman said. The Kovalam CI had revealed her name and place when he spoke about her in news channels, she alleged. “I too am a survivor; I need to go out into society. I went ahead with the complaint after reaching a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I don’t trust the Congress party to take any action against him, they will only try to protect each other,” she said.
Further stating that she had digital proofs with her, the woman also played an audio recording of an interaction purportedly between the MLA and a media person, in which they can be heard talking about a woman’s defamation case and the mention of Rs 10 lakh. It is not, however, clear what the case is, or whom they are talking about.
She has many things to say, but she could not reveal more details at the moment, the woman said. “But it has all been stated before the court,” she added.