T.G. Mohandas gets bail over rape remarks; BJP calls arrest 'vendetta'

Right-wing commentator T.G. Mohandas was granted bail by a Thiruvananthapuram court on Monday after his arrest over remarks about the protests in New Delhi against the NEET paper leak, including a claim that women attending the protest ‘enjoy being raped’.

In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel Pathrika, Mohandas (71), allegedly said the protest could lead to ‘incidents of gang rape’. He further claimed there would be no complaints because ‘those attending the protest like rape and there are girls who enjoy being raped’.

Mohandas also allegedly said some people should be killed or permanently injured, but that the situation would be brought under control within hours and the bodies shifted to hospitals.

Police arrested Mohandas on Sunday evening from his residence in Mattancherry, Kochi, and recorded his arrest on Monday morning. He was charged under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act and the Kerala Police Act. Police also invoked charges relating to words, sounds, gestures or objects intended to insult a woman’s modesty and criminal intimidation involving severe threats.

Thiruvananthapuram additional chief judicial first class magistrate Mithun Gopi G.S., granted him bail after hearing the prosecution and defence. The court directed him to appear before the investigating officer for three days and whenever required, and ordered him not to repeat a similar offence while on bail.

The arrest prompted an immediate political reaction from the BJP, which sought to distance itself from Mohandas’ remarks while simultaneously portraying his arrest as political targeting.

BJP state general-secretary S. Suresh said the party did not endorse what Mohandas had said. ‘We are not endorsing what he said. Everyone has the freedom to criticise his words, and he accepts that freedom of criticism,’ Suresh said. However, he immediately shifted the focus to the Congress-led UDF government, accusing it of using the arrest to divert attention from its alleged failures.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar similarly said the party was ‘100 per cent’ against Mohandas’ remarks, but claimed his arrest was intended to divert attention from the state government’s ‘poor performance’. "This government’s performance graph is going down. They are arresting him just to divert attention somehow away from that graph," Chandrasekhar said.

CPI(M) leader E.P. Jayarajan hit out at the BJP’s response, saying the public could judge the ideology of the RSS, Sangh Parivar and BJP from their attempts to defend Mohandas. "How can a political party justify those leaders and organise programmes for them? If they can do that, that is their standard," he said.

Jayarajan also alleged that the state government had delayed Mohandas’ arrest out of fear of protests and claimed the delay suggested an ‘adjustment’ with the RSS and BJP.

The police had registered the case following a complaint that videos uploaded on Mohandas’ YouTube channel were intended to disturb public peace and create fear and unrest. Investigators have seized digital devices allegedly used to create and upload the video. Following his arrest, SFI activists gathered outside the court, raising slogans and holding posters against Mohandas.