Former Kerala speaker faces BJP flak for naming rape victim

State BJP president Kummanem Rajasekheran on Saturday complained to Kerala police against senior CPI-M leader K. Radhakrishnan for revealing the personal details of a rape victim, in which his party workers are the accused.

"Being a former Kerala assembly speaker, Radhakrishnan knows the rules very well. When he named the rape victim, the mistake was pointed out by the media immediately. But even then he justified why he named the victim," said Rajasekheran in his letter to state police chief Loknath Behra.

"This is a serious crime and a case has to be registered against him," he added.

Radhakrishnan, who is the Thrissur district secretary of the CPI-M, committed the mistake on Friday while announcing the suspension of party Municipal Councillor P. N. Jayanthan and another party worker, after a woman accused the two of raping her.

In his interaction with the media, he named the victim and when the media instantly pointed out to him that it was wrong, he shot back by saying that if Jayanthan can be named then the details of the victim can also be revealed.

State CPI Secretary Kanam Rajendran, whose party is the second biggest ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) also slammed Radhakrishnan.

"Be it a former speaker or a former minister, no one can do this and action should be taken against anyone who does something illegal, without any qualms" said Rajendran.

The 2014 case became public on Thursday when the victim along with her husband and two women activists narrated the incident to the media in the state capital.

The Congress party took up this issue inside the assembly on Friday and observed a shutdown at Wadakanchery in Thrissur on Saturday, where the incident occurred.

--IANS

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