Bengaluru court sends BJP MLA Munirathna to SIT custody in rape case

A special court in Bengaluru has remanded Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Munirathna to police custody till October 5 after he was arrested on charges of rape and sexual harassment.

The special court passed the order on September 24 when Munirathna, an MLA from the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency in Bengaluru, was in judicial custody following his arrest by the city police on allegations of rape, harassment and using “HIV positive women to honey trap rivals.”

Munirathna was arrested on September 14 and remanded to judicial custody. Following his arrest, the Karnataka government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by IPS officer BK Singh to conduct an investigation into the allegations against the BJP MLA.

On September 23, the SIT received the files related to Munirathna’s case and produced him before the special court the next day seeking his custody for further investigation.

Munirathna has been booked under Sections 376 (rape), 354(assault with intent to outrage modesty of woman), 354(C), 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult), 384 (extortion), and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code and for offences under the Information Technology Act.

Earlier, Munirathna had secured bail in two other criminal cases registered against him for allegedly having made derogatory comments against the Vokkaliga and Dalit communities.