Former Excise Minister HY Meti seems to be in trouble again as the alleged sex tape case took a new turn on Thursday.
A woman, claiming that she was the one in the tape, has filed a complaint of rape with the Karnataka State Police Chief RK Dutta in Bengaluru.
The woman alleges that she was raped by Meti and later kidnapped and threatened by his supporters.
This complaint comes nine months after Rajashekhar Mulali, an RTI activist from Ballari, had released the tape.
HY Meti was made to step down from his Ministerial post after the tape was released to the media and a CID probe was also orderd.
The CID had given Meti a clean chit, concluding that the video was edited and doctored on May 30.
According to a report by the Times of India, the woman met RK Dutta at the State Police Headquarters and filed a petition, seeking legal action against Meti. RK Dutta has assured the woman of a fair probe
The complaint states that the woman was raped multiple times by Meti in his office and residence in Bagalkot.
“Meti's supporters had detained me for three days after the video was released. I had then filed a complaint against those who released the video and others as I was threatened into doing so. They also forced me to give a statement in their favour to the CID officials who were probing the case,” the woman alleged in the complaint.
The woman has also requested protection for herself and her family members and has said that Meti would be responsible for any threat to her person.
A CD of the former Excise Minister had surfaced in the media on December 11, 2016, where he was allegedly seen having sex with a woman.
Meti had quit after the local media went to town with the CD allegedly featuring him and a government employee.
The woman had initially accused Meti of seeking sexual favours from her for a transfer and for her contract to be made permanent.
On December 11, 2016, regional TV channel BTV aired an interview of the woman claiming that the 71-year-old Congress leader had demanded sexual favours in return for carrying out transfers in his department.
Following that interview, a series of news reports were aired by various regional media outlets.
Two days later, the woman, withdrew her charges against Meti and accused four men, for allegedly threatening to kill her if she did not make incriminating statements against the then minister.
Alleging that the minister’s gunman, Subhas Mugalkhod, a district armed reserve (DAR) policeman, was behind the conspiracy to tarnish his image, the woman claimed the four men had taken her to the Hubballi bypass road on November 22 and forcibly recorded her statement against him.
Seeing Vijayalakshmi make a U-turn, the CID, in its report questioned her credibility as a witness, media reports said.