Case filed over circulation of victim’s photos in Bandi Bageerath case

The case was filed based on a complaint by the Chairperson of the Medchal Malkajgiri Child Welfare Committee

Hyderabad: The Pet Basheerabad police on Friday, May 15, registered a case against social media handlers circulating photos, videos and other identifying details of the girl allegedly sexually assaulted by Bandi Bageerath.

The case was filed under sections 74 (disclosure of a juvenile’s identity involved in legal proceedings) of the Juvenile Justice Act, section 72 (1) (disclosure of the identity of victims of sexual offences) and section 23 (disclosure of a child victim’s identity) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, based on a complaint by the Chairperson of the Medchal Malkajgiri Child Welfare Committee.

The police have also appealed to the public against circulating such content, saying that revealing the identity of a victim involved in a POCSO case causes severe emotional distress to the victim and constitutes a serious legal violation.

Bandi Bageerath POCSO case

A POCSO case was registered against Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay’s son, Bandi Bageerath at the Pet Basheerabad police station on May 8, following allegations made by the family of a 17-year-old girl.

According to the complainant, Bageerath made the victim consume alcohol and sexually assaulted her at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad on two separate occasions.

Meanwhile, Bageerath filed a counter-complaint with police in Karimnagar alleging extortion and intimidation by the girl and her parents.

He said the girl became acquainted with him and invited him to family functions and group gatherings.

Bhageerath alleged that the girl’s family later pressured him to marry her and demanded money after he refused. He claimed that he paid Rs 50,000 to the girl’s father out of fear, but the family later demanded Rs 5 crore and threatened to file false complaints if he failed to comply.

Following Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s orders, a Special Investigation Team was constituted and Kukatpally Deputy Commissioner of Police Ritiraj was deputed to head it.

On May 12, the Petbasheerabad Police altered the charges of the POCSO from harassment of a child to aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

The same day, Bageerath approached the Telangana High Court seeking an interim bail. The case is set to be heard on Friday.