Sreekanth Vettiyar, a popular YouTuber from Kerala, has been charged with raping a woman. The case was registered by the Kochi Central Police after the victim from Pathanamthitta in Kollam district, Kerala, filed a complaint against Sreekanth, who is also a member of DYFI (youth wing of the ruling CPM). In the complaint, the woman accused Vettiyar of brutally raping her twice, once in a hotel room and once in his apartment in Kochi.
The police are said to have recorded the statement of the victim under CrPC Section 164 and begun probing the case. A case has been registered against the blogger under Section 376 (2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police have said that it has intensified the search to track Sreekanth Vettiyar down as he has gone into hiding after the case came to the fore.
The victim, a resident of Pathanamthitta, posted about the incident on social media and a week later she formally filed a complaint against him at a police station in Kochi. In the #MeToo allegation that surfaced on social media, the woman said that Vettiyar had invited her for his birthday party and raped her.
According to the police complaint, the victim, a mother of an eight-year-old child, said she became close to Sreekanth Vettiyar while living in Kochi. As per the complaint, the woman said that she became a fan of the YouTuber for his stands on social media on issues like women’s empowerment and political correctness.
The victim alleged that she was invited to Sreekanth’s birthday party in February 2021 to his flat in Aluva, Ernakulum where she was sexually attacked. This was the first time, after which she was again assaulted in a hotel room in Kochi city.
The victim also confirmed that on the instructions of Sreekanth Vettiyar, the latter’s friends have been constantly coercing her to take back her complaint.
The Facebook page ‘Women Against Sexual Harassment’ had brought the matter to the fore two weeks ago. In the post on the FB page, the victim had said she was abused even though she resisted.
“He manipulated me several times to ensure that I will not open up about the crime. The mental trauma I faced in the last couple of months was unexplainable. The criminal involved in the crime is roaming around freely and he gives lengthy lectures on liberalism and modern attitude,” said the woman in her post in Malayalam.
The woman claimed she suffered significant bleeding and mental anguish as a result of the rape, although Sreekanth Vettiyar acted in such a way that he made no mistakes. Sreekanth allegedly extorted money from the victim as well.
Another MeToo allegation against the YouTuber
Notably, the Facebook page ‘Women Against Sexual Harassment’ had earlier also levelled a #Metoo allegation against Sreekanth Vettiyar.
Another woman, who accused Sreekanth of the same, revealed that he was her friend. She alleged that the YouTuber used his popularity to deceive his naïve fans. “He is celebrated for not using anti-women comments and body shaming for humour and is deemed politically correct. However, he subjects those around him to gross injustice,” she said on Facebook.
She also accused him of exploiting and taking advantage of several other women who were fans of his. She claimed she had been abused on several occasions and decided to speak up after several such incidents were reported. “Many of his victims contacted me, and I decided to speak up,” the woman explained.
There are also allegations that Sreekanth deceived other women by promising them a role in one of his upcoming films.
Sreekanth Vettiyar and his CPIM links
The 31-year-old content creator hails from Mavelikkara in Alappuzha. He is known for his memes and spoofs which are usually guided by his left-leaning and pro-communist ideology. Vettiyar is a content creator and his social media page “Vettiyar Trolls” has wide viewership. Many media reports suggest that Sreekanth Vettiyar is a left-liberal face on social media platforms who have often opened up about his affiliations with DYFI (youth wing of the ruling CPM) and left-wing politics. He is also the administrator of the International Chalu Union (ICU), one of the first internet troll pages to gather popularity in Malayalam.
