Jagadesh KN Mahadev, the legal counsel of the woman involved in the sexual assault case against Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday said that Karnataka Chief Minister BS. Yediyurappa's open invitation to Jarkiholi for the election campaign is a reflection of how the Karnataka government wants to handle this case.
"Yediyurappa's open invitation to a rape accused (Ramesh Jarkiholi) is nothing but an insult to women of this state, that too, when my client was about to record her statement in front of a magistrate. His statement is perfect indication that the Karnataka government is making all-out efforts to protect Jarkiholi," he alleged.
In a 55-minute-long Facebook live session, he also hit out at Karnataka Revenue Minister R. Ashoka and CCB inspector Puneeth Kumar among others. He had earlier opposed R Ashoka when he first filed a case against Ashoka's brother-in-law, when the former was Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of the state in 2011.
Jagadesh alleged that the SIT investigation officer, Kavitha and Dharmendra Kumar are responsible for releasing the video clip showing his client travelling in a car to media houses. "This is a gross violation of our client's privacy, hence, we have reported this to the magistrate by naming these officers," he said.
The presence of KPCC legal cell general secretary Surya Mukundraj and the use of Congress MLA Harris Nalpad's car to travel around had raised questions against Jagadeesh. However, he claimed there is no party politics involved here. "What is wrong if my fellow advocate brother (Mukundraj) accompanies me or the victim. There is no party politics involved here. He came to advocate nothing else," he said and added that there was nothing wrong in using Nalpad's car. "I have a car, but to travel with the victim, I used Nalpad's car, as the car used to be arranged by my driver. He calls his friends and arranges sometimes," he said.
Earlier, interacting with the mediapersons, he requested them not to depict the victim in a derogatory manner. "Most of the news channels are stating that 'CD Lady' and 'CD Lady Lawyer', it is not correct to use such words. These are derogatory terms. She is a victim, and she should be seen in such a manner and nothing else," he said.
Ramesh Jarkiholi was booked under sections 354A (Sexual harassment), 417 (Cheating), 506 (Criminal intimidation), 504 (Intentional insult), 376 C (Sexual intercourse by person in authority) of the Indian Penal Code. He has also been booked under 67A (Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit acts) of the Information Technology Act.