Kochi (Kerala): The Infopark police in Kochi have registered a case against a 41-year-old doctor on a complaint filed by a relative of one of the accused in the assault case, alleging that he sexually abused her after giving her intoxicants, police said, in a report carried by The Hindu on November 6. The case was registered a day after two film actors were arrested on the doctor's own complaint of assault and robbery. The allegation against the doctor has not been tested in court, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: The Hindu via Scoop

The counter-case grows out of the incident of November 2 at an apartment in Ponnurunni, Vyttila, reported earlier by Awaaz Punjab. According to the doctor's complaint to the Kadavanthra police, he was called to the flat between 6.30 pm and 10.30 pm on the pretext of a medical emergency, was confined in a room, beaten and robbed of two mobile phones and a smartwatch valued at about Rs 3.25 lakh, and was accused by the group of having drugged and assaulted the woman relative. The FIR named about 12 people; police arrested three of them, including actors Athulya Chandra and Bibin Perumpalli, and said the remaining accused were being traced, Medical Dialogues reported, citing The New Indian Express.

Source: Medical Dialogues

The doctor's complaint itself recorded that the group had threatened to file a complaint accusing him of trying to drug and assault the patient — the allegation that has now become a registered case at the Infopark police station on the woman's relative's complaint, the Indian Express reported, as summarised by Inshorts. The woman is not being named, in line with the protection given to complainants in sexual-offence cases.

Source: The Indian Express via Inshorts

Two cases, two sets of allegations

Kadavanthra police are pursuing the doctor's complaint of confinement, assault and robbery against about 12 accused, three of them arrested so far. Infopark police are pursuing the relative's complaint of sexual abuse against the doctor. Both are allegations under investigation; no court has decided either case.

Police have not announced any arrest in the new case so far. With both complaints now formally registered, investigators will have to test two directly opposed accounts of the same November 2 events, and the next steps — statements, medical and forensic evidence, and any further arrests — will decide how the twin cases move.