Neither CPM, nor me to protect Binoy: Kodiyeri Balakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, whose elder son Binoy Kodiyeri has been booked on rape and cheating charges, says neither he nor his party will protect him, but he isn’t aware of his son’s whereabouts.

Mr Balakrishnan 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. He met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday morning and explained to the party secretariat the context. The party maintains it is for the individual concerned to defend himself, not the party.

“Neither my party nor I will protect Binoy. He is an adult. It’s his responsibility to prove his innocence. He stays separate as a family and is responsible for his actions... family members cannot afford to do wrong, thinking the party will support them," Mr Balakrishnan, who is undergoing ayurveda treatment, told media persons here.

He said he had 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. “I do not see them regularly. If I used to frequently visit their family, do you think it would be like this”, he asked.

He denied being aware of the case and nobody had spoken to him about it. He said this when asked whether he knew that the complainant had said the Kodiyeri family was aware of this for the past one and a half years. But his son had come and met him after the case was filed. “He has contested the charges, let him fight the case”, said Mr Balakrishnan.

In reply to a question whether he had offered to resign, Mr Balakrishnan said it was a media creation and the motive behind it was clear.   

He did not want to reply to the question whether Maharashtra government had shown interest in the case but said the case had become prominent because of his position at the party helm; otherwise this would end up a mere individual case.

The press conference was his first following the complaint by the former bar dancer from Mumbai that she had been raped by Binoy after promising to marry her. She claims 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 investigating officers.

Two Mumbai cops along with local police visited Binoy's ancestral home at Thiruvangad in Thalassery in Kannur and handed over the notice to his relatives. Binoy, booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 376 (rape), remains at large.