Kerala High Court upholds anticipatory bail granted to Congress MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly in rape case

The Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the anticipatory bail granted to Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Eldhose Kunnappilly, in a rape case [State of Kerala v Eldose Kunnappilly]..Justice Kauser Edappagath dismissed two appeals against the anticipatory bail granted to Kunnappilly on October 20, by the Additional Sessions Judge- VII, Thiruvananthapuram. One appeal was moved by the State government and the other by the complainant.The single-judge found that the Sessions Court's order was issued after considering all the relevant sequence of events, facts and circumstances, and therefore, cannot be overturned by invoking the High Court's jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC..The Congress MLA from Perumbavoor constituency stands accused of committing offences punishable under Sections 376(2)(n) (repeatedly raping same woman), 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (assaulting woman with intention to outrage her modesty), 354b (use of criminal force on woman to disrobe her), 362 (abduction), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506(1) (criminal intimidation) read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC on the basis of a complaint filed by the alleged survivor with the police in September 2022.The appeal moved by the State, through Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan, argued that the Sessions Court went wrong in granting pre -arrest bail when the investigation was only in its initial stage.It was submitted in the appeal that there was a long-standing relationship between Kunnappilly and the complainant. However, when the relationship became strained, Kunnappilly allegedly assaulted and raped her several times.When the complainant refused to go with him to a particular rest house, Kunnappilly allegedly assaulted her and took her to Suicide Point at Kovalam and threatened to kill her, the plea said. The complainant supposedly escaped and hid behind a locked house. When the police came to the area to probe complaints by residents, Kunnappilly allegedly introduced her as his wife but later took her to the hospital for treatment, it was contended.Due to frequent threats and physical assaults meted out to her by the accused, the complainant escaped to Kanyakumari and tried to commit suicide, the appeal said.Further, it was pointed out that the statement of the complainant contained explicit narration of several instances of rape.However, the Sessions Court failed to consider whether the contents of the statement together with the material produced before it, revealed a prima facie case against the accused or not.The plea also said that the accused is an influential man who can intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence.On these among other grounds, the State sought to quash the order granting anticipatory bail to Kunnappilly.Two days after he was granted anticipatory bail, Kunnappilly was suspended from the Congress party for 6 months..[Read Order]