BENGALURU: A 29-year-old woman jailed on a caste atrocity charge alleged on Thursday that she has been framed for trying to expose her five-year-old relationship with Om Prakash, the state’s top police officer.
Sadhana Rajalakshmi spent one day in a jail in Ramanagaram, and three days in a Mandya jail.She says she was taken to Mandya for a medical test against her will. She got bail on Thursday.
Last Saturday, she had stormed into Director-General and Inspector-Genral of Police Om Prakash’s official residence on Nrupatunga Road, alleging she was facing threats to her life from his son, and seeking his intervention.
On many occasions, she says, Om Prakash refused to meet her, and used his clout to have her thrown out. Om Prakash refused to comment on her allegations, saying he had approached a court seeking an injunction against the publication of any reports about the case in the media.
In a complaint, Sadhana had alleged Omprakash’s son Karthikesh and his friend Ravishankar had been threatening her since February. The Rajajinagar police have received the complaint, but filed no FIR.
“They are now trying to prove I am mentally unstable,’’ she told Express on Thursday. “They forced me to undergo a psychiatric test at Mandya and got my signature on some papers.”
A day after the ruckus at the DGP’s office, she alleged that about 20 policemen arrived at her house in Rajajinagar. They arrested her and took her to the Kanakapura police station, where a lawyer had filed a complaint.
The complaint, filed on May 1, says Sadhana had abused the lawyer’s caste on April 27 around 7 pm. It also says the lawyer had been too busy to file the complaint rightaway.
Kanakapura police acted at lightning speed, filing an FIR at 5.45 pm, and arresting her from Bengaluru the same day.
Sadhana told Express, “It was all planned. Anyone can get CCTV footage from the DGP’s office. On April 27, I was at his office, not at Kanakapura.”
Five-Year History
She alleges Om Prakash had been in a relationship with her since 2011. “His son and his friends were threatening me against speaking about it,” she said. She says she first met Om Prakash when he was Additional Director-General of Police at the Grievances Cell.
“I had filed a divorce case and I had to approach him as my then husband was threatening me. That was in 2011. Later, I met him to sort out my problems,” she said.
Sadhana says Omprakash met her at various spots, and they used to frequent Hotel Mourya in Bengaluru. “I am ready for any inquiry. Even if they erase police evidence, they can’t destroy CCTV footage from these places and our call records,” she said. Sadhana says Om Prakash accompanied her during her hospital visits. “A prime hospital in Bengaluru has my health file. He has signed on it and given his residential address. It was opened in December 2012,” she said. In 2013, between January 11 and 21, she was allegedly taken to a hotel in Tirupati and locked up.
“Let them check the CCTV footage from The Grand Ridge at Tirupati. I managed to send a message to a friend explaining where I was. Realising they would be caught, they brought me back home,” she alleged.
Procedural Flaw
When Express asked why the police had taken Sadhana to Mandya district jail when the case was booked at Kanakapura, a senior officer said, “There is no women’s cell at the Ramanagaram district jail. That is why we sent her to Mandya.” A former ADGP said, “The case was registered at Kanakapura, which is in Ramanagaram district. They can’t send her to Mandya.”
‘Probe Charge’
Jyothi A, President of the National Forum for Women in India, is standing by Sadhana. “The government should order a departmental inquiry and an independent inquiry. And the Women’s Commission should take up Sadhana’s case,” she told Express.