Former Karnataka BJP minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who recently resigned after the sex-for-jobs case emerged, was finally booked by the Bengaluru Police on Friday. The development came after the woman seen in the sex tape submitted a written complaint to city Police Commissioner Kamal Pant through her advocate earlier in the day.
The Cubbon Park police booked the former minister under sections 354A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), 417 (punishment for cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult), 376 C (sexual intercourse by person in authority) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was also booked under Section 67A (punishment for publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts) of the Information Technology Act.
In a detailed complaint, the woman stated that Jarkiholi had promised her a government job and on that pretext had multiple sexual interactions with her. She also alleged that it was the former minister himself who leaked the video to the media in a bid to silence her.
The complaint mentioned that she had come in search of a job to Bengaluru hoping to act in a short film and went to meet Jarkiholi. He took down her number and called her to enquire about her and her family.
She stated that he started calling her regularly and assured her a government job using his influence if she “cooperated with him on all matters”. She said she believed him on the job promise and continued to “cooperate and give him happiness”.
She said Jarkiholi asked her to engage in sexual acts for the first time in Delhi’s Kannada Bhavana and she did so as he was an influential person. Jarkiholi even called her home on the pretext of talking about the job and had intercourse with her on two separate occasions, she alleged.
She also said Jarkiholi abused her when she enquired about the job assurance. As stated in her previous pleas on videos, she sought protection for her and her family.
It was earlier reported how a complaint detailing the sex-for-favours charge had also been filed by an activist, but till then the police in the state had failed to register an FIR against the political strongman. Instead a special investigation team led by a senior IPS officer was probing the origins of the video leak as requested by Jarkiholi himself.
(This story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished here with permission.)
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