Neither CPI(M) nor me will protect Binoy: Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on son facing rape charges

CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, whose son has been booked on rape and cheating charges, on Saturday said neither he nor his party will protect him. He also denied allegations that his family was contacted by the 33-year-old woman on whose complaint the Mumbai police registered a case against Binoy Kodiyeri, elder son of the Marxist veteran.

"Neither my party (CPI-M) nor I will protect Binoy Kodiyeri. He is an adult. He stays as a separate family and is responsible for his actions," Balakrishnan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram in his first public comment on the issue.

The CPI(M) leader said he does not know the whereabouts of Binoy, said to be absconding. Balakrishnan, who met the media for the first time since the controversy erupted a few days ago, said he has not seen his son for the last few days.

When reporters persisted with questions on the whereabouts of Binoy, he shot back saying he was not an officer of the Mumbai Police. A former bar dancer from Mumbai has alleged in her complaint that she had been raped by Binoy after promising to marry her. She also claimed that she has an eight-year-old son from the relationship.

The police on Thursday sent a notice to Binoy, asking him to appear within 72 hours before the investigating officers probing the case. Two Mumbai Police personnel along with local police visited Binoy's ancestral home at Thiruvangad in Thalassery in Kannur district of Kerala and handed over the notice to his relatives.

Binoy, booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 376 (rape), has been untraceable since the case was registered.