Hyderabad: The POCSO case registered against Bandi Sanjay’s son has escalated into a full-blown political controversy in Telangana, with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samthi (BRS) seeking the BJP leader’s dismissal from the Union Cabinet.
At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aggressively planning to make inroads in Telangana, BJP leaders ThePrint spoke to fear the case adversely impacting the party by affecting its public perception. The BRS, on the other hand, is looking to capitalise on Bandi Sanjay’s mishandling of the situation.
What adds to the BJP’s unease is that the controversy came ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Hyderabad. While Bandi Sanjay has not defended his son, he called the POCSO case a “political hit job” aimed at maligning him ahead of Modi’s public meeting. On Saturday, he alleged that his political opponents did not want a backward classes (BC) leader to rise in politics.
His elder son Bandi Bhageerath was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on Friday night at Hyderabad’ Pet Basheerabad police station following allegations of sexual harassment of a minor girl.
In the First Information Report (FIR), the 17-year-old girl’s mother accused Bhageerath, who was in a relationship with her daughter, of sexually assaulting as well as harassing her daughter.
Sanjay’s son, according to the FIR, was harassing the girl for over six months and that he misbehaved with her at a farm house in Moinabad. The complainant said that the two came in contact with each other through common friends and that Bhageerath took undue advantage of their closeness.
The teenager is yet to be medically examined or formally questioned by the investigators.
Bhageerath, meanwhile, filed a counter-complaint just hours before this complaint was registered Friday, alleging extortion and criminal intimidation by the teen and her parents.
“Believing them to be trustworthy, I accompanied them to holy places. Subsequently, her parents intimidated me, but I refused. The girl and her parents demanded money and also threatened to file a false criminal complaint against me with allegations of harassment and physical relationship. Due to fear, I gave Rs 50,000 to the father of the girl, but they demanded Rs 5 crore and threatened that otherwise the girl would commit suicide,” he alleged.
On Sunday, BRS student wing Bharat Rashtra Samithi Vidhyarthi laid siege to the DGP’s office in Hyderabad on Sunday, demanding the immediate arrest of Bhageerath. There were demonstrations before the Pet Basheerabad police station with senior BRS leaders accusing both the BJP and the Congress of shielding the accused.
“That PM Modi and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy shared the stage on Sunday with Bandi Sanjay indicates who is shielding him. The gloves are off, indeed. And the BJP’s Beti Bachao campaign can now be officially closed down,” a woman leader of the BRS said.
BRS working president K.T.Rama Rao, or KTR, said on X, “What dystopian nightmarish hell are we all living in? Why should a 17-year-old rape victim and her family struggle for over three months to even get an FIR registered?”
KTR questioned the police, asking, “Under what rule did the Telangana police file a honey-trap & extortion case on a minor girl?”
Former IPS officers and BRS leader R.S.Praveen Kumar also alleged that the girl’s family was made to wait for several hours before the Pet Basheerabad police to ensure Bhageerath’s FIR was registered first in Karimnagar.
BRS leaders accused Bhageerath of misusing his father’s power and position since he was found on the wrong side of the law three years ago as well. In January 2023, Bhageerath was involved in a controversy regarding the alleged assault of a fellow student.
Back then, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma sarcastically compared Bhageerath to Saddam Hussein’s notorious son Uday Hussein, stating that the “days of dictators’ sons” had reincarnated through him.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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