Lawyers assault aide of accused in court

The suicide case of 27-year-old Dalit advocate Dharani S took an ugly turn on Monday, when a group of advocates reportedly attacked one of the associates of the accused in the court hall. The incident came to light on Wednesday.

Anil, the victim, is a resident of Horamavu near Agara in north-east Bengaluru. He was attacked by a group of 100-150 advocates at the city court hall CH 71 in the City Civil and Sessions Court Complex near Mysore Bank Circle in the city.

Anil had accompanied the accused in the Dharani suicide case to the court as the bail petition was taken up for hearing on Monday. According to the complaint by Anil to the Halasurugate police station, he was only helping the Mahadevapura police in providing security to the accused when they were brought to the court.

“At around 3 pm, 100 to 150 advocates attacked me,” he said in the complaint. Subsequently, Anil was rushed to Victoria Hospital and is currently being treated at a private hospital in Kochi, close to his native place.

In a testimony to the police, Anil said he had come to the court to pay the advocate.

As the place was crowded, someone stamped his feet. When he questioned a group of advocates, they assaulted him, leaving him severely injured.

Lawyers’ counter plaint

The Advocates’ Association of Bangalore (AAB) has filed a counter complaint, saying that the accused in the Dharani suicide case had applied for bail and they had come to the court along with bouncers. “They began to attack advocates without any reason. Later, they fled the scene and Anil was among them. The AAB office-bearers have sought legal action. A P Ranganath, AAB president, said, “Anil assaulted the complainant’s advocate in the suicide case.”