Minister orders probe after POCSO case accused attends school reopening event in Kerala

Kerala Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has sought an explanation on the participation of an accused in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, in a school Praveshanolsavam (reopening) event in the State capital on Monday.

The Minister directed the Thiruvananthapuram Deputy Director of Education to conduct an urgent inquiry into the incident and submit a report.

Vlogger Mukesh M. Nair was one of the guests at the Praveshanolsavam held at Fort High School, West Fort, here on Monday morning.

School authorities told the media that they or the school had nothing to do with Mukesh M. Nair. They did not know about him or that such a person would attend the Praveshanolsavam. He had been roped in for the event by an organisation that regularly provided school supplies to students of the school in connection with the event.

The school headmaster denied that the school had printed any notice with the name or the photograph of the POCSO accused as part of event promotion. “We use only the banner provided by the government.”

The Kovalam police said they were investigating a case registered against Mukesh M. Nair on a complaint about an incident that occurred during the shooting of some reels at a resort at Kovalam. A minor girl had accused him of inappropriate behaviour at the shooting held in February. The complaint was filed in April. Mukesh M. Nair was granted bail in the case by the POCSO court.

Published - June 03, 2025 12:52 pm IST