Mayookha Johny, the Kerala athlete who represented India in the 2012 Olympics, has come out against former Kerala Women’s Commission Chief MC Josephine, as well as a number of police officers in Thrissur and a former minister for the handling of a sexual assault cause, in which she is friends with the survivor. Mayookha alleged that Jospehine and others, including the former minister she refused to name, supported the accused in the case. Mayookha’s friend was allegedly raped in the incident. The incident occurred in 2016, and the survivor filed a complaint in March 2021.
In a press meet on Monday, the former athlete alleged that MC Jospehine tried to protect the accused, instead of siding with the victim. "The main accused in the case, Chungath Johnson, in 2016 raped the woman and took nude videos, when she was alone at home. The woman was unmarried and her parents were sick. Moreover, the accused was powerful. So the survivor was scared to complain. But he kept on threatening her. She got married in 2018 after a lot of counselling sessions. Later in 2020, a friend of the accused named Gunda Sabu, distributed a notice in the colony where the [survivor] stayed. In the notice, it was said that they have her nude videos. That is when her husband came to know about the assault. Her husband was supportive. That is when we filed a case in Kollam district. But the case was transferred to Aloor police station as the crime happened there," Mayookha alleged.
However, she alleged that since the case was transferred to Aloor police station limits, there have been attempts to sabotage the case. She said that though Thrissur rural Superintendent of Police G Poonguzhali reacted positively when they first met her, she later did not help them.
"Johson kept on threatening the [survivor] and family. The [survivor] gave a statement with the First Class magistrate after which she went for a medical check-up in the presence of police, and the accused threatened the victim's husband," Mayookha said.