Congress politician Guarappa Naidu booked for sexual harassment

Complainant, a former teacher at a school he heads, alleges Gurappa Naidu has sexually abused several teachers and blackmails them with videos of their sexual acts

Based on a complaint by a former teacher working in a private school, the C.K. Achukattu police here have registered a case of sexual harassment against the school’s chairman, B. Gurappa Naidu, a Congress politician.

Mr. Naidu is one of the general secretaries of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election against R. Ashok from Padmanabhanagar in 2008.

The complainant alleged that she quit her job in 2023 after Mr. Naidu tried to force her into a sexual relationship with him. She also alleged that many other teachers working in the school have also been sexually abused, raped, and blackmailed with videos of their sexual acts by Mr. Naidu.

Mr. Naidu has been booked under Section 354A (outraging modesty of a woman) of Indian Penal Code and for criminal intimidation.

The complainant said she worked at the school between March 2021 and August 2023 and that there are over 75 women teachers working at the school, most of them from poor and middle-class backgrounds. “The school’s chairman Gurappa Naidu is a pervert who has sexually abused several teachers, making videos of the abuse and blackmailing them into having a physical relationship with him whenever he wants. All the teachers are scared of him. Though there have been attempts to lodge a complaint earlier, teachers backed out fearing consequences,” she said.

She alleged that Mr. Naidu used to call her to his chamber repeatedly, misbehave with her, and used to ask her when she would get ready to have a physical relationship with him. She said one day in 2023, when she resisted these advances, he molested her and verbally abused her using vulgar sexual language and threatened her with dire consequences if she did not cooperate. She said she ran home crying following which her mother asked her to quit the job, which she did.

“In all these months since I quit my job, I haven’t been able to overcome the trauma of the sexual harassment I faced that day at the hands of Gurappa Naidu. Feeling I should lodge a complaint, even if no one else comes forward, I have taken a step ahead and lodged this complaint now,” she said, explaining the delay in lodging the complaint.

Lokesh B. Jagalasar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Division), Bengaluru, said the case was registered on Wednesday and a probe had been initiated.

Published - November 28, 2024 09:28 pm IST