Sexual harassment case registered against Karnataka Congress leader Gurappa Naidu

The 38-year-old complainant stated that she worked in BGS Bloomfield School in Bengaluru, where more than 75 women work. Naidu is the chairman of the school who 'tormented her with his sexual advances', the woman alleged in her complaint.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress leader Dr B Gurappa Naidu has been booked for sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of a woman, who works as a teacher at a school in Thyagaraja Nagar where the suspect is the chairman, police officials said on Thursday.

The CK Achukattu police registered the FIR on November 26, following a complaint by the 38-year-old woman.

Naidu, who is also the general secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), was booked under IPC Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

According to the woman, the incident occurred between 2021 and 2023 when she worked at the school. She termed Naidu a “pervert” and alleged that he has “used several women, recorded their private moments and threatened to make them public”, as per the FIR.

“Since the women are from a poor background, they were afraid to come forward,” she said.

“We had discussed previously filing a complaint but were afraid as he [Naidu] is a wealthy and influential individual and if our family came to know, it would ruin our reputation. During my stint in the school, he [Naidu] deliberately summoned me to his chambers and asked me when I would be ready and mentally harassed me,” she added.

Quoting a specific incident, she said that Naidu once obscenely spoke with her and pulled her hand towards him.

“When I denied his advances, he got angry and said that everyone else was cooperative. He then abused me,” the woman alleged.

The woman said she informed her mother who urged her to quit the job. She then approached the jurisdictional CK Achukattu police on November 26.

“An investigation has been initiated,” a senior police officer said.

Meanwhile, Naidu denied the allegations and termed it "baseless".

"This is done by a few RTI activists who had taken money from other schools to bring down the name of my school," Naidu told DH. "As their previous attempts had failed, they have done this now. The police will investigate and the truth will come out," he said.