Kozhikode: In a big twist in the Pantheerankavu domestic violence case here, the accused Rahul P Gopal in his plea before the Kerala High Court claimed that he settled all issues with his wife and decided to start a new life together. In a plea moved through his lawyer, the youth who is currently in Germany pleaded to the court to quash the criminal charges against him. Manorama News reported that Rahul submitted the petition attached with an affidavit signed by his wife. In the affidavit, the woman declared that she would like to withdraw her complaint against Rahul. The court will consider Rahul's plea on Wednesday.
The couple took the surprising move when the probe team was preparing to seek legal advice in the case for submitting the chargesheet. A copy of the complainant's statement will be obtained from the court in this regard. The domestic violence case that made headlines in May witnessed a series of dramatic events after the complainant woman did a volte-face.
A few days ago, she took to her YouTube channel accusing her family of pressurising her to lodge a complaint against her husband. She claimed that Rahul never manhandled her over dowry.
Rahul and the woman from Perumbavoor entered wedlock on May 5. The woman's family noticed bruises on her body when they paid a visit to Rahul's house on May 12 as part of a ceremony. Later, they took her to the police station and filed a complaint. According to police, Rahul used to beat up his wife over suspicion of infidelity.
After returning to their native place, the woman's family alleged lapses in the police probe and filed a complaint with the Chief Minister. Visuals of the woman's injuries were aired on all news channels and she also opened up about the brutal torture. She revealed that Rahul strangulated her with a cable of a mobile phone charger and criticised police for not slapping an attempt to murder charge against the accused. Amid this, Rahul managed to flee to his workplace in Germany with the help of a friend. Police slapped dowry harassment charges against Rahul's mother and sister too over the complaint. Nearly, a month after this, the complainant woman took her YouTube channel claiming that her family forced her to file the complaint and extended support to her husband.
More dramatic scenes unfolded after her family approached the police complaining that she had gone missing. Police traced the woman in Delhi and took her to Kochi and produced her before the magistrate. As she refused to go with her family, the police allowed her to fly back to Delhi.