4 min readThiruvananthapuramDec 1, 2023 05:11 PM IST
First published on: Dec 1, 2023 at 05:11 PM IST
A senior government pleader in the Kerala High Court resigned from his post and was booked by the police for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman who had approached him for help with a 2018 rape case, police said.
Advocate P G Manu had been appointed as senior government pleader in 2021. Prior to that, he had served as a special prosecutor in Kochi for the National Investigation Agency.
According to the complainant, she was sexually abused three times by the accused – the first two times at his office and then at her house.
Based on the complaint, police in Ernakulam’s Chottanikkara on Wednesday registered a case against Manu under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act.
In a recorded conversation after the complaint was filed, Manu was purportedly heard pleading with the woman’s family: “I will fall at your feet. Don’t spoil my life. I am going to be included in the judges panel. I will come and meet you…”
According to police, the complainant was the survivor in a 2018 rape case. She and her parents had approached Manu for help with the case, which she wanted to quash as it had been pending for five years. On October 9, they visited his office.
The woman alleged in her complaint: “After hearing the pending case in detail, Manu asked my parents to get out of his room.” He sent the father out to take photocopies of documents, and when he took time to return, the mother was sent to look for him. Manu then allegedly bolted his office door from the inside and sexually abused her. “If you want to end this five-year-long hell, you have to cooperate with me as per my wishes,” Manu allegedly told the woman, as per her complaint.
He also allegedly warned her that without his help, she might become an accused in the case.
According to the complaint, Manu told her parents that she was shattered by the 2018 case and needed counselling. He told them to meet him again two days later.
When they returned on October 11, he again sent the father out – this time, to go have some food. He allegedly locked the door again and sexually abused her, and continued to warn her about the 2018 case, the complainant said.
After this, Manu allegedly continued to make lewd comments to her in calls and messages, the complainant said.
On October 24, he went to her house when her family was away. He arrived in an official car marked ‘High Court of Kerala, Senior Government Pleader’, she alleged in the complaint.
The complainant said she asked him to go away and resisted his advances, but he allegedly sexually assaulted her and told her that he could arrange her marriage with a junior of his.
She said her parents came to know about the incidents after her mother suspected something was amiss when Manu visited the home on November 3, saying he wanted to know whether she was okay.
“He asked my mother to call me saying that he wanted to speak about the details of the case. But I was not ready to meet him. My mother developed a suspicion, and then I disclosed everything,” she said in the complaint.
The accused arrived at the residence of the complainant in an official car marked ‘High Court of Kerala, Senior Government Pleader’, she alleged. (File Photo) 
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