The police have now invoked sections of rape and stalking on Congress leader and Kovalam MLA M Vincent, who has been booked after a woman attempted suicide alleging she was sexually harassed by him several times.
The probe team decided to invoke IPC sections 376 and 354D after recording the woman's statement at a hospital in Neyyattinkara on Thursday, according to a Times of India report. The city magistrate also recorded her statements at the hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.
Kovalam: Housewife attempts suicide, abetment case against Congress MLA
The police had earlier registered an abetment of suicide and verbal abuse case against Vincent after the woman's husband filed a complaint, alleging that the legislator used to repeatedly call her over the phone and harass and threaten her.
The woman, 51, a Balaramapuram native, attempted suicide by consuming excess amount of sleeping pills on Wednesday.
Vincent, however, alleged that there was a "political conspiracy" behind the allegations against him and filed a complaint with the police himself, demanding a detailed probe into the matter.
The Congress MLA claimed that a local CPM leader was present at the woman's house when she attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills, and that her brother is also a Marxist activist.