Writer Honey Bhaskaran has accused Congress Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil of inappropriate behaviour. In a Facebook post, she detailed the alleged misconduct.
Here’s what she alleged.
The Youth Congress state president had first contacted her through Instagram on June 9 while she was in Sri Lanka. He reacted to one of her photos with a heart emoji and began asking about her trip. He also joked about the Nilambur elections.
At first, Honey replied casually but later noticed a flirtatious tone in his messages. She then chose not to respond further, and the chat ended.
“I learned the vulgar truth behind why you messaged me,” the writer from Kerala wrote.
Later, she heard from others that Rahul had allegedly bragged about the chat during a drinking session, twisting the story as if she had approached him. He allegedly spread this false claim within his political circle. She said her suspicions about his behaviour were confirmed when other women spoke of similar harassment.
“Women need to know this side of you. A man who chats with women and then distorts those conversations among perverts to mock and shame them,” Honey wrote.
“I fear for the women in your own party who have interacted with you. How much vulgarity must they have endured from you? Women who shared any form of privacy with you must now be living in silent fear,” she added.
Senior Congress leaders are ‘aware’
The writer further alleged that even senior leaders like Shafi Parambil were aware of such behaviour but ignored complaints. According to Honey, men like Rahul misuse women’s trust, twist private talks into vulgar gossip and spread false stories that cause trauma. She described such acts as more dangerous than direct harassment.
“People like you are unfit to even be near women in public spaces, let alone continue in politics. Such men make politics itself inhuman,” she wrote.
Honey added that Rahul’s close colleagues had themselves warned her about his actions. According to her, if those who spend time with him daily revealed these truths, it would show the extent of his disgrace.
“Rahul Mamkootathil, you filthy spider, it was not your enemies but your closest Congress colleagues…If even they feel compelled to bring this truth to someone like me, imagine how deeply they must have understood your disgrace,” she added.
Honey urged Rahul Mamkootathil to resign from politics.
“If you have any shred of integrity left in your political career, the only honourable step you can now take is to quit politics altogether. That is the real dignity,” she concluded.