CHENNAI: Olympian Mayookha Johny feels let down by the Kerala state machinery particularly the police.
The country's track and field athlete chose to speak her mind after the Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to the accused in a sexual assault case which, by now, is widely known as the Aloor rape case.
The accused in the case is one CC Johnson, who is wealthy and enjoys political and religious patronage. The rape survivor is a friend of Mayookha.
Soon after the apex court granted interim bail to Johnson, Mayookah vent her frustration on Facebook. She castigated the Kerala police and the standing counsel who appeared on behalf of the state for failing the rape survivor miserably before the Supreme Court.
"congratulations dear Kerala Police and Standing counsel for Kerala State in supreme court to help the accused person in crime no 143/2021 of Aloor Police Station to avail bail from Honble Supreme Court...." the triple jumper said.
In a sarcastic tone, Mayookha conveyed her greetings to the Kerala police and the standing counsel for doing their best to help the accused get bail.
Further, she beseeched the state government to take measures to offer free of cost a rope and poison to the down-and-out and helpless rape survivors.
"What all those who tirelessly talk about women's safety actually want is the death of the survivors. The survivors who live with the humiliation, isolation, and trauma caused by the assault are nobody's concern in our society," she noted.
Mayookha said the accused had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court after Kerala High Court dismissed his bail plea. But one should have seen the dismal performance, silence in a bid to help the accused, and anxiety of the standing counsel.
Mayookah told The New Indian Express that the accused and his clan are very influential. The rape survivor her husband and sister-in-law face intimidation. I'm also not safe. That is the reason that police protection has been extended to me.
"Now he has got bail. He and his aides would not hesitate to target us," said Mayookha.
Even earlier, Mayookha Johny had cautioned that the police is favouring the accused in the Aloor rape case and the accused and his aides were threatening her and the survivor.
"Once the High Court dismissed the bail plea of Johnson he and his aides have been threatening us and trying to fabricate the case against us," she had said.
Advocate Ayub Khan had appeared for the survivor before the High Court.
Mayookha had also pointed out that the police and the Women’s Commission failed to help the rape survivor despite her being harassed and threatened. She had also alleged that former Women’s Commission chairperson M C Josephine intervened to save the accused.
According to Mayookha, her friend was raped and blackmailed by Johnson, a native of Muringoor in Chalakkudy. The incident happened on July 9, 2016, when the girl was alone at her house in Aloor. The survivor alleged that she is living in constant fear as the accused sends threat messages through WhatsApp.
The survivor said that Johnson raped and clicked her nude photographs. The accused blackmailed and abused her several times threatening to release the photos.
As Johnson continued to threaten the survivor through WhatsApp, she shared the incident with Mayookha and sought her help. When Johnson got information that the victim has informed Mayookha about the incident, he engaged a quotation gang who threatened Mayookha when she visited a mall in Kochi.
Though the girl married in 2018, the accused continued to torture her mentally. "As she remained dull and sad all the time after the marriage, I intervened and convinced her to file a police complaint. I also urged her to share the WhatsApp messages sent by Johnson with the police," said Mayookha.
Even though there is a police report which says that the accused is not cooperating with the investigation and his mobile phone need to be recovered and examined besides, there being charges of manipulation and intervention of a former supreme court judge, a bishop and others in favour of the accused, the counsel for the state G Prakash failed to submit all these before the court, she said.
However, Prakash, claimed that the court granted interim bail to the accused because the assault took place in 2016 and the survivor came forward to lodge a complaint only in 2020 and that too only after her marriage.
But does it really matter? Prakash evaded the question saying that the court has not halted the investigation yet and this is not a verdict.