Senior Kerala politician P C George arrested in a sexual assault case

Controversial Kerala politician P C George was on Saturday arrested in Thiruvananthapuram on the basis of a sexual assault complaint filed by an accused in the solar panel case, two months after he was arrested and released on bail for hate speech.

The 70-year-old George, who represented the Poonjar constituency in the state Assembly for 33 years, was taken into custody by the Museum police from a guesthouse in the capital city in a dramatic move. At that time, the senior politician was being grilled by a team of Crime Branch personnel in connection with a conspiracy allegedly hatched to defame Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh.

Arrest on secret statement

According to police sources, the sudden move to arrest George was made based on a secret statement given by the accused and according to a written complaint filed directly by her at the local police station in Thiruvananthapuram in this regard.

Also read: Kerala politician George arrested for controversial remarks against Muslims

As per the complaint, the senior politician had allegedly behaved in a way insulting her modesty on February 10 at a guesthouse in Kerala’s capital and sent her indecent messages on mobile phone. Soon after filing an FIR over the charges, a team led by the Cantonment Assistant Commissioner took George into custody.

He has been charged under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354 (a) (sexual harassment), they said.

George refutes charges

However, George rejected the charges and claimed that he had not done anything indecent and it was a false complaint. A former chief whip while the Congress-led UDF was in power, George also alleged that the accused came up with a complaint now as he did not give a statement in favour of her in a case she had filed against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

While speaking to the reporters outside the police station, the politician again courted controversy by insulting a woman TV journalist who questioned him naming the accused, which is illegal. Besides journalists, senior CPI(M) leader and Education Minister V Sivankutty were among those who strongly condemned his act.

George had sparked off a controversy in May by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the community. However, within a few hours of his arrest, George secured bail from a magisterial court. He had lost Poonjar, his bastion, to the Left Democratic Front candidate in the 2021 Assembly polls in a triangular fight.

(With agency inputs)