BJP’s Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali has come under fire after snapping at a woman who tried to approach him with a grievance.
The police even booked the woman, Ruth Sagay Mary, her husband Vinay Prabhu and their son under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, the Disaster Management Act and IPC sections dealing with trespass, assault or criminal force on public servants from discharging their duty. The FIR was based on a complaint by Partha Sarathi, revenue inspector, Whitefield, accusing her of building a wall on a stormwater drain in survey number 18 of Whitefield.
A video of the MLA yelling at Mary on September 1 was shared on social media and aired by TV channels. Congress and Aam Aadmi Party went after Limbavali. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted in Kannada to hit out at the MLA.
Speaking at a news conference, Mary said a wall belonging to her 48-year-old house was being demolished without notice. “There were some BBMP officers and BJP leaders. They said the wall was an encroachment. I have plan approval documents to show it’s not an encroachment. I said I should have been given a notice before demolition. I would have voluntarily removed the wall,” she said.
Mary also said she was detained at the police station for five hours till 10 pm. “The police said they had orders from the MLA.”
Limbavali stressed that the woman was an encroacher. Responding to Surjewala’s tweet, he said he was ready to apologise if the Congress leader could get the woman to vacate the government land.
The video shows Mary walking up to Limbavali as he tours the rain-affected parts of his constituency. He seethes and tries to snatch her papers. She says, “Sir, this is a document. Please listen to me for a minute.”
The MLA yells, “Call the police and send her away,” and walks off.
She replies, “Sir, bear with me for a minute.” Limbavali gets angrier, walks back and snatches the paper. “What to listen to? Just shut up?” Taken aback, Mary says, “Sir, please sir. Give me some respect. Is this the way to talk to a woman?”
Limbavali says, “What respect? You have encroached on (government land). And then you want respect?” Mary again asks him to look at the paper and then
decide. She claims she is not an encroacher.
The MLA then says, “Respect... I can talk in another tone...” As Mary asks him to mind his language, the MLA addresses her in the singular, “I won’t spare you. Get to the (police) station. I’ll get you grabbed by the throat and thrown behind bars.”
As she protests her innocence and reiterates that she’s only seeking justice, Limbavali gets furious: “How dare you? You encroached on (govt land) and are seeking justice?”
Speaking to reporters later, Limbavali said the authorities had issued Mary a notice three days ago asking her to clear the encroachment and were pursuing her but she was evasive.
“During the rains, floodwater entered DNA (Eden View) and other apartments. Many big builders have cleared encroachments. She should do the same in the public interest,” added.
A Kannada channel quoted Limbavali as saying during an interview: “What did I do to her? Did I rape her?”
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