BJP seeks probe by sitting High Court judge

The BJP on Saturday demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the High Court of Karnataka into the reported sexual exploitation of women prisoners at the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara.

Addressing reporters, party leader S Suresh Kumar said sexual exploitation of women prisoners was a serious issue. Women prisoners who had been victims have written a letter to the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court. An impartial probe by a sitting high court judge will reveal the truth, he said. “Women are increasingly feeling unsafe under the Congress rule in the State. Incidents of sexual assault were so far happening in public and in schools. Now, it is happening in prisons. These incidents are a testimony to the misrule of the State government. It also proves that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has no control over the administration,” he said.

Kumar criticised Siddaramaiah and other State Congress leaders for repeatedly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and warned that the State BJP would launch an agitation if they failed to mend their ways. “Siddaramaiah has been attacking Modi repeatedly using cheap language. He even made use of the Children’s Day function to criticise the prime minister. This is unbecoming of a chief minister,” he said.

The chief minister and the State Congress leaders have been accusing Modi of dividing the country by indulging in communal politics. Modi has never stooped to the level of criticising an individual, he said.