The legal counsel of the woman in the sex-for-job CD case on Monday said that she had obtained an order from the Karnataka High Court to record her statement before a local court. Lawyer Jagadesh KN Mahadev told reporters that the order does not specifically mention the exact date or time to produce her before the court. Meanwhile, police had deployed heavy security at a magistrate court on Monday expecting that the woman would appear to record her statement.
"We will cooperate with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) only after she gives the statement before the magistrate. We request the police to provide her security," Mahadev said. Ever since the case came to light, the woman has continued to express her views either through video clips or through written statements from undisclosed locations, even as SIT officials are trying to track her down.
In a three-page letter dated March 28, the woman has requested the Chief Justice to direct the state government to provide her protection. In the letter, she said that she was a rape victim and had filed a complaint against former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi. "Jarkiholi is a highly influential person and has already threatened me in public of going to any extent against me," she alleged.
"I have already expressed my apprehension that there is a threat to myself and my parents from Ramesh Jarkiholi. I am, on my own will and wish, fighting for justice against an influential person. It is me who is suffering. I have to fight for my dignity and womanhood. Statement made through my parents that I am kidnapped is baseless. This is my fight, not anybody's. My family is in the captivity of Ramesh Jarkiholi," she had further said.
Jarkiholi was forced to quit on March 3 after the woman accused him of demanding sexual favours in exchange for giving her a job. The former minister filed a complaint against unknown persons on March 13, accusing them of framing him and alleging that the CD was "fake" and he was innocent.
Pursuant to a complaint by the woman, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against Jarkiholi at Cubbon Park Police Station in Bengaluru under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 376(c) (sexual intercourse by a person in authority) and 417 (punishment for cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.