The Ottapalam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court has issued an arrest warrant against Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose. The warrant was issued in connection with a case involving the assault of police officers on duty. The incident, which led to the legal proceedings, took place in 2018 during a protest in Shornur, where a road blockade resulted in injuries to police personnel.
The case was originally registered by the Shornur police. The court took this stringent action after the Member of Parliament failed to appear in court on multiple occasions, despite repeated summons. The assault reportedly occurred during a protest organized to demand action on a sexual harassment complaint that had been raised against the then MLA of Shornur in 2018. The court is scheduled to review the case again on February 2.
This development follows a similar action where MP Shafi Parambil recently appeared before the Palakkad court and served a sentence after an arrest warrant was issued against him in a separate case concerning a national highway blockade. The current warrant against Dean Kuriakose marks another instance of stringent judicial action against public representatives.