Hyderabad: Rape case filed against BJP leader

Hyderabad: A rape case has been registered by the RC Puram police against BJP spokesperson M Raghunandan Rao on Monday based on a complaint lodged by a woman.

According to RC Puram inspector J Ramesh, the woman alleged that in 2003 she had filed a domestic harassment case against her husband and in 2007 she had filed a maintenance case through advocate Raghunandan Rao, TOI reports.

“In 2007, the advocate called her to his office at Patancheru to talk about the maintenance case and mixed some substance in her coffee. When she fell unconscious after consuming coffee, Raghunandan Rao raped her. The complainant alleged that Rao also threatened to post her obscene photos on social media,” the inspector said.

According to police, as the accused was threatening her with dire consequences, she approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). “Based on the complaint, a case was registered against Raghunandan Rao under the charges of rape, threatening and blackmailing,” the inspector added.

TOI contacted Raghunandan Rao for his version about the rape case registered against him and he is yet to respond.

(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)