The Maharashtra Police has asked Binoy Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI-M Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, to appear before it in three days, after a rape case was filed against him last week.
In her FIR, a 33-year-old Mumbai-based woman, who hails from Bihar, has alleged that Binoy sexually exploited her for several years on the promise of marriage and they have an eight-year-old child. She registered a complaint at Andheri's Oshiwara police station on June 13, after she came to know that he was already married.
According to her complaint, she entered into a relationship with Binoy while working at a dance bar in Dubai in 2008 and now has an eight-year-old child with him. She alleged that till 2015, Binoy even used to send her money every month.
The victim has handed over some crucial documents, including pictures, to the police.
According to the victim, she filed the FIR two months after she wrote about the matter to the CPI-M national leadership but failed to get a response from them.
The CPI-M leaders now maintain that the case has nothing to do with the party. "A case against an individual needs to be defended by him," party's Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said in New Delhi. State Fisheries Minister J.Mercykutty repeated the statement on Wednesday.
State BJP spokesperson B.Gopalakrishnan questioned the silence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and veteran legislator V.S.Achuthanandan on the case. "Binoy should present himself for a DNA test and the CPI-M state secretary Balakrishnan should step down in the wake of this serious charge against his son," said Gopalakrishnan.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala wasn't as scathing. "Let the police probe the case but something is happening in the CPI-M, which does not augur well for them," said Chennithala.