Monson Mavunkal was arrested last year in one of the cheating cases against him. (Representational)
The Kerala High Court on Monday sought the stand of the police on the bail pleas moved by controversial self-styled antiques dealer Monson Mavunkal in two separate rape cases in which he is an accused.
The court asked the public prosecutor to get instructions on the two pleas and listed the matter for hearing on February 15.
One of the cases pertains to the alleged rape of his maid's daughter, when she was a minor and after she became an adult on the false promise of providing her financial assistance for education.
According to the complaint, the survivor was allegedly raped on various occasions by the accused from January 2020 to September 2021.
The other case, according to the prosecution, pertains to the alleged rape of a woman -- who was a nurse in a cosmetic treatment centre run by Mavunkal -- after allegedly threatening to implicate her in a drugs case in which her brother was an accused.
He alleged that the rape cases have been foisted upon him by the police to keep him in prison as they were unable to find anything incriminating in the cheating cases against him that they were investigating.
Mavunkal was arrested on September 25 last year in one of the cheating cases against him. He has been in jail since then and is an accused now in around 10 cases, including those of raping a minor.
A native of Cherthala, Mavunkal, who claims to be in possession of rare and historic antiques, was arrested by the district Crime Branch which has been investigating into a case of cheating Rs 10 crore from different people.
Mavunkal apparently borrowed the amount from various people saying he was in need of funds to clear procedures to obtain Rs 2,65,000 crore from his account in a foreign bank.
Many photographs of the accused with KPCC chief Sudhakaran, senior IPS officials, senior bureaucrats and many others were telecast in the mainstream media.