Police Register Case Over Sexual Harassment Linked To RSS Worker’s Death

Thiruvananthapuram: Police have registered a case against an RSS leader accused of sexually harassing 26-year-old Anandu Aji, who allegedly died by suicide last week.
Thampanoor police on Friday booked Nidheesh Muralidharan, a native of Kanjirappally in Kottayam district, under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code for unnatural sexual offences. The case has been transferred to the Ponkunnam police station in Kottayam, where the alleged offence reportedly took place. Officials there said they would re-register an FIR and begin an investigation shortly.
Aji, a software engineer from Thampalakkad in Kottayam, was found dead in a lodge at Thampanoor on October 9. He was an RSS activist from a family long associated with the organisation.
In a 15-page suicide note posted on Instagram, Aji referred to a person identified as ‘NM,’ alleging repeated sexual abuse. Following his death, a pre-scheduled video message recorded by him was released online, in which he named Nidheesh Muralidharan and claimed the abuse began in his childhood, causing severe mental distress and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).