An FIR has been filed against BJP leader Ramesh Jarkiholi at the Cubbon Park police station in Bengaluru after a handwritten complaint was filed by the woman involved in the sex CD scandal. She filed a two-page complaint at the commissioner’s office through her advocate KM Jagadish alleging that she feared for her safety.
Bengaluru: FIR registered against BJP leader Ramesh Jarkiholi under multiple sections of IPC, & section 67A (Punishment for publishing sexually explicit act,in electronic form) of IT Act.
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2021
Advocate KM Jagadish filed complaint on behalf of the woman in the sex CD case. #Karnataka
The FIR is reportedly filed under IPC sections 376c – Sexual intercourse by a person in authority, 354a – Sexual harassment, 504 – Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, 506 – Criminal intimidation, 417 – Cheating, and IT Act 67a – Publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit content.
Woman demands protection, alleging threat to her life from Ramesh Jarkiholi
In her letter, the woman explained how she met Jarkiholi and the events that came to pass in the wake of the meeting. The complaint said that she contacted Jarkiholi as she wanted to shoot a short video and therefore exchanged numbers.
After they started speaking, the woman alleged, Jarkiholi vowed to get her a job and informed her that she would have to compromise. She mentioned in her complaint that she got a video call from the leader when he was in Delhi and staying at the Karnataka Bhavan. Jarkiholi had allegedly asked her to strip in front of the camera, snippets of which were leaked to the media in the CD that was released earlier in February.
The woman had alleged that she did not come out earlier as she was afraid of the fact that Jarkiholi was an influential man and well-connected. She accused the MLA of offering her money to settle the matter and ignored her when she asked for a job. The complainant also mentioned that she and her family have been receiving threats from Jarkiholi and that attempts were also made by him to kill them.
Earlier on March 13, the woman had released another video from an undisclosed location, asking to be provided with security. Jarkiholi had then filed an FIR against unknown people, alleging that the video was fake and that he was being politically targeted.
In February this year, a complaint was filed against Jarkiholi by a social activist named Dinesh Kalahalli after the videos were leaked. However, within a few days, the complaint was withdrawn. The Karnataka government has now instituted a Special Investigating Team(SIT) to probe the matter.
Ramesh Jarkiholi, the MLA from Gokak constituency, had defected to the BJP from Congress
Ramesh Jarkiholi is a BJP MLA representing Gokak in the Karnataka state assembly. He had served as Water Resources Minister in the Government of Karnataka from 7 February 2020 to 3 March 2021. He was previously associated with the Congress party. In 2019, Jarkiholi jumped the ship and started campaigning for the BJP. He was a cabinet minister in Siddaramaiah’s government from June 2016 to May 2018 and was later made the Minister of Municipal Administration under HD Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka.
