Kochi (Kerala): A doctor booked in a sexual-assault case in Kochi — who had himself accused Malayalam actors Athulya Chandran and Bibin Perumpally of assaulting and robbing him — is suspected to have sexually assaulted more women, police said on Saturday. An examination of Dr Johnson Varghese's two mobile phones revealed videos and photographs of intimate moments involving several women, police said.

Source: PTI via The Biz Reporter

The case against the 41-year-old doctor was registered at the Infopark police station on Friday, November 6, on a complaint by a woman who is a relative of Chandran, officials said. The complaint alleges that he abused her after giving her intoxicants. The complainant has not been named. Police said Varghese has been absconding since the case was registered on Friday, and that a further investigation will be conducted on the basis of the digital evidence recovered from his phones.

Source: Medical Dialogues

How the two cases reached this point

The counter-case grows out of an incident on November 2 at a flat in Ponnurunni, Vyttila, which Awaaz Punjab has reported in two earlier stories. According to the doctor's complaint to the Kadavanthra police, he was called to the flat at Essen Springdale Apartments on the pretext that a relative of one of the accused was unwell. He alleged that around 12 people were present, that he was assaulted, and that his two mobile phones, smartwatch and earphones, together valued at around Rs 3.25 lakh, were taken. The doctor also alleged that the group accused him of drugging and assaulting the relative.

On Thursday, the Kadavanthra police arrested Chandran, Perumpally and their friend Vishnu on the doctor's complaint — the arrests Awaaz Punjab reported on November 5. A day later, the Infopark police registered the sexual-assault case against the doctor himself, as reported on November 6. Saturday's police statement about the phone evidence, and the suspicion that more women may have been assaulted, is the newest development in the second case.

In the first case, the Ernakulam Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Saturday dismissed the bail petitions filed by the three arrested persons, including the two actors, according to reports of the court proceedings.

Source: Daily Jagran

Television reports on Saturday said Kochi police were also moving to seek a lookout circular against the absconding doctor; police have not announced any arrest in the sexual-assault case so far. All allegations in both cases are allegations at this stage and are yet to be tested in court, and investigations in both cases are continuing.