The Karnataka High Court has declined to dismiss the chargesheet filed against a 45-year-old advocate from Mangaluru, accused of raping a 21-year-old second-year law student who was interning at his office in 2021. The accused senior advocate KSN Rajesh Bhat had sought quashing of cases against him in the Mangaluru Women’s Police station and the criminal proceedings in the third JMFC court in connection with the case.
The bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna gave the order on Tuesday, July 11 after taking note of the survivor’s statements and the petitioner’s claims. The court remarked, "...any interference by this court at this stage would be rendering plaudits to the wanton lust and vicious appetite of the petitioner. If a naive student of law enters the office of an advocate as an intern and is subjected to these horrendous acts, it would have a chilling effect on the entire practice and profession." The court emphasised that the accused advocate must prove his innocence in a full-fledged trial.
The court also stated that the observations made in this order were solely related to the petition and would not exert any influence on the ongoing criminal proceedings against the accused advocate. The complainant was studying in a second-year law course and joined the office of the accused in August, 2021 for an internship. She was given a stipend of Rs 6,000 p.m. The allegations against the accused included sending private videos to her mobile, and observing her movements in the office on CCTV camera.
It is alleged that the accused advocate forced her into his cabin on September 25, 2021 at around 6.30 pm, when there was no one else at the office.
She, later on, complained that the accused had threatened to kill her if she lodged a complaint against him. The complainant had also approached the person who had referred her to the accused and also the latter’s wife of the incident and went on to lodge a police complaint against the senior advocate.
But the accused Rajesh gave police the slip for a long time before surrendering at the local court in Mangaluru in Karnataka. The police had formed special teams to nab him. They were searching for the accused for more than two months and that had created public outrage.
They had also issued a lookout notice through Intelligence Bureau (IB) to all the airports of the country to prevent Bhat from escaping to a foreign country.
A notice was served to banks to freeze as many as twelve accounts of the accused. The police department has suspended two police officers, including a woman sub-inspector, for dereliction of duty in connection with the case and arrested three persons in connection with the threatening case filed by the complainant's friend. The friend had alleged that Rajesh’s friends had approached her on the pretext of giving her legal advice on the matter and threatened her.
Rajesh Bhat was suspended from membership of the Karnataka State Bar Council following the FIR against him.
The charges listed in the chargesheet include outraging the modesty of the victim, sexual harassment, criminal force with the intent to disrobe her, voyeurism, stalking, criminal intimidation, extortion, destruction of evidence, giving false information regarding the incident, and rape.