Kochi: The prosecution on Monday vehemently opposed in the Kerala High Court the anticipatory bail plea of the man who allegedly raped the friend of Olympian Mayookha Johny and took the victim's nude photographs to blackmail her, saying his custodial interrogation was required in the matter and his phone was yet to be recovered.
The prosecution also told the court that the potency test of the accused has to be carried out and several more witnesses have to be examined and therefore, he should not be granted any protection from arrest presently.
The accused, on the other hand, contended that the rape complaint was filed five years after the alleged incident occurred - in July 2016 - and claimed it was a blowback of differences between two factions of the Emperor Emmanuel Church.
The accused - C C Jhonson - has claimed that he and the victim were part of this church and the rape complaint was filed after he left the church.
His lawyer told the court that whether the allegation of rape was part of a conspiracy was also being investigated by the Crime Branch.
The submission was made before Justice Shircy V during the hearing of Jhonson's anticipatory bail plea in the rape case registered in March this year on the victim's complaint.
Meanwhile, the complainant's counsel - advocate Ayub Khan - contended in the court that the victim was not a part of the church and at the time of the incident she was teaching elsewhere.
Khan also told the court that as a result of the incident, she was traumatised for a long time and even after her marriage in 2018 she could not come out of it and only after undergoing counselling and due to the support of Johny, did she get the courage to lodge a complaint.
He contended that the anticipatory bail plea was filed on May 12, but was allegedly "protracted" till now to buy time for fabricating evidence against the victim.
Khan claimed that the victim was disturbed as the accused was a pastor of the church from whom such an action was not expected.
He further argued that the victim and Johny were threatened and intimidated by the accused and some persons associated with him.
A similar submission was also made by the public prosecutor who said the accused and his henchmen have threatened the victim as well as Johny and in this regard criminal cases have been registered and the Crime Branch was investigating those complaints also.
The prosecution also told the court that the accused committed the crime at the victim's mother's flat on a day when the mother was not present.
After hearing arguments of all sides, the court reserved its decision in the matter.
The Crime Branch on July 30 had placed before court its report on the investigation carried out so far in the rape case.
Johny had held a press conference in June, levelling serious allegations against the Kerala police and a former official of the state women's commission in connection with the investigation into the case of rape of her friend in 2016.
Johny had alleged that her friend was raped by Chungath Johnson, who took nude photos of her and used them to blackmail the victim.
She had also alleged that her friend was being threatened.
She had alleged that police, after initially promising action, became inactive due to intervention of highly influential persons in favour of the accused.
The police had recently told the court that the probe was only recently handed over to the Crime Branch on July 5 on the orders of the State Police Chief.
