Hyderabad: A POCSO court in Malkajgiri has granted seven days of interim bail to Bandi Sai Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, solely to allow him to appear for his final examinations.
The relief is temporary and subject to conditions imposed by the court, new agency ANI quoting sources reported on Saturday, June 20.
Bageerath, 25, has been in judicial custody at Cherlapally Central Prison since May 16, when he was arrested by Cyberabad Police near Appa Junction in Narsingi. He was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by the Medchal court and later shifted to Cherlapally.
The case against him
A POCSO case was registered against Bageerath on May 8 at the Pet Basheerabad Police Station, following a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he sexually assaulted her daughter on two separate occasions at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The charges were subsequently altered to aggravated penetrative sexual assault on May 12.
Bageerath has denied the allegations, filing a counter-complaint in Karimnagar alleging extortion and intimidation by the girl and her family. He claimed the family pressured him to marry the girl and, when he refused, demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening to file false complaints if he did not comply.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team, with Kukatpally Deputy Commissioner of Police Ritiraj deputed to lead the probe.
Police have also invoked Section 64(2)(m) of the POCSO Act, which pertains to repeated rape of the same person and carries a punishment extending up to life imprisonment.
Chargesheet delayed, BRS raises concerns
The interim bail comes amid criticism from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over the pace of the investigation. BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar alleged on Saturday that neither the investigating officers nor the Public Prosecutor had kept the victim’s family informed about the case’s progress, including Bageerath’s three bail attempts, as required under POCSO Rules.
He also questioned the delay in filing the chargesheet and why certain individuals he identified as BJP leaders had not been named as accused.
Investigators have said most formalities have been completed and that the chargesheet is pending only the receipt of a forensic science laboratory report. Police have collected electronic devices, digital records, closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage and financial transaction data, and reportedly conducted a crime scene reconstruction during Bageerath’s two-day police custody in May.
According to reports, Bageerath cooperated with the investigation and allegedly confessed to the offence during the probe.
His father, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay, has maintained that there was no wrongdoing from his side and expressed faith in the legal process.
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