A look-out circular has been issued against Bandi Sai Bhageerath, the son of Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in connection with a case filed in Hyderabad under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act over allegations of sexually harassing a minor girl.
Cyberabad police issued the look-out circular, and officials said on Saturday that searches are being conducted to trace and arrest Bhageerath, news agency PTI reported. Notably, the circular has been issued to prevent him from fleeing the country.
The development came after the Telangana high court on Friday refused to grant him interim relief while reserving its order on his anticipatory bail plea. The court said its decision would be announced on May 21.
What’s the case against him?
The case was filed on May 8 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the POCSO Act based on a complaint submitted by the mother of the 17-year-old girl.
She alleged that Bhageerath was in a relationship with her daughter and had sexually harassed her.
After the girl’s statement was also recorded, stricter provisions under the POCSO Act were added to the case.
Bhageerath had also filed a counter-complaint. He alleged that the girl had invited him to family events and group gatherings. He claimed that the girl and her parents later pressured him to marry her. According to him, after he refused, her parents demanded money and threatened to lodge false complaints if he did not comply.
Allegations mount against Bhageerath
During the hearing in Telangana high court, senior advocate Pappu Nageshwar Rao, appearing for the girl, made additional claims against him. He alleged that four other girls had also faced harassment and that they would come forward later.
He further alleged that Bhageerath’s father was using his influence to impact the investigation and claimed that attempts to settle the issue had been made through a person named Sangappa.
The survivor’s lawyer also alleged that on January 1, the girl woke up at a farmhouse without clothes and claimed that the petitioner had made her consume alcohol. He argued that delays in filing complaints under the POCSO Act were neither unusual nor legally important.
He further claimed that local police took action only after a counter-case was filed in Karimnagar and after the chief minister personally followed up on the matter. The counsel also said that two FIRs had earlier been registered against Bhageerath and argued that he could not be treated as a first-time offender.
During the hearing, senior advocate S Niranjan Reddy, representing Bhageerath, argued that the complaint filed by the girl’s parents at Pet Basheerabad police station had been submitted after receiving extensive legal advice. He said that a careful reading of the complaint did not show allegations amounting to penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act. He also argued that police later added the section related to penetrative sexual assault “with mala fide intent”.
Representing the state government and police, public prosecutor Palle Nageshwar Rao said the survivor was born in 2008 and was currently 17 years and three months old.
He said investigators had gathered detailed evidence and that the seriousness of the allegations became clear only after the survivor’s statement was recorded, which led to the addition of the penetrative sexual assault charge under the POCSO Act.
With inputs from agencies
