Union Minister Bandi Sanjay's son skips appearance before police in POCSO case in Telangana

The anticipatory bail petition filed by Bandi's son Bageerath will come up for hearing before a bench in Telangana High court on May 14.

Hyderabad: Bandi Bageerath, the 23-year-old son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay, failed to appear before police on Wednesday for questioning in a POCSO case registered against him. Petbasheerabad police had issued notices summoning him to present himself at 2 pm, but he did not comply.

Posters appealing to the public to help trace Bageerath have since appeared across Hyderabad in localities including Serilingampally and Nallakunta triggering a political storm across the state. Also Petbasheerabad police also upgraded the charges against him.

He now faces allegations of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under Section 5(I) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act among the most serious offences under the law up from the earlier charge of sexual harassment of a child under Section 11, which covers non-physical acts of sexual intent. The upgraded charge is a non-bailable offence carrying a minimum sentence of 20 years' rigorous imprisonment, extendable to life imprisonment or the death penalty. Police revised the charges after re-recording the victim's statement on Tuesday.

The anticipatory bail petition filed by Bageerath will come up for hearing before a bench in Telangana High court on Thursday. In the petition Bageerath alleged that the victim had lied about her age and she is not a minor.

Even as Bageerath continues to abscond pressure is mounting on hs father and also the police to arrest him. Speaking about the POCSO case filed against Union Minister Bandi Sanjay’s son, Telangana Rakshana Sena, founder Kalvakuntla Kavitha, said “First things first, Bandi Sanjay should have recused himself from sharing the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considering the seriousness of the allegations against his son. This sends the wrong message and makes citizens feel the powerful and mighty are above the law and can get away with anything.”

Elaborating on the insensitivity displayed by the social media armies of the parties, she said, “BRS attacking Bandi Sanjay and the consequential smear campaign initiated by BJP supporters, trying to prove the accused’s innocence by assassinating the character of the victim has resulted in various personal images, videos, and details of the victim being revealed. Both parties are directly responsible for destroying the life of the young girl. Remember, unfortunately, even today we live in a society that doesn’t forgive a girl with the same lenience that a boy receives. Bringing out personal images and videos of the girl and using them to drive a political agenda is not only morally deplorable but also illegal. They have subjected the girl and her family to unfathomable trauma.”

Noting that the BJP is known for letting people flee the country in such cases, she demanded swift action from the state police, saying, “BJP, out of habit, might try helping the accused flee the country. Therefore, I demand that a Look-Out notice be issued immediately. This will make the women of Telangana feel secure and instill confidence in them that the police will stand by them, irrespective of the profile of the person involved in the case.”

Bageerath, however, on Wednesday, has written a letter to the police, requesting two days time that would enable him to collate the relevant material, documents and information in his possession, and assist the investigation into the false allegations made against him and his family. He reiterated in the letter his unconditional willingness to join the investigation and undertake to appear before the undersigned officer on a date so accommodated, subject to such reasonable directions as may be issued in this regard, in the interest of a fair and effective investigation.