Amid high drama sex CD scandal 'victim' records statement in court

Bengaluru: The 25-year-old woman who was allegedly sexually exploited by former minister Ramesh Jarkhiholi promising her a government job, finally appeared before a local court on Tuesday and recorded her statement under section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). According to the law, a complainant is entitled to file a statement voluntarily before a judge if he or she wishes to make a complaint under Article 164 (5) of the CrPC.

Speaking to the media ahead of the alleged woman came to the court to record her statement, K N Jagadesh Kumar, her legal consel, said, "As we received permission to come before the magistrate and give her statement, we are now ready to present her before court because she is within 5 km of the court."

Meantime, a video showing the visuals of the woman arriving at the Bengaluru International Airport on Monday went viral.

There was a high drama in front of the ACMM court in the afternoon as media persons, police, lawyers and the public gathered at the ACMM court, waiting for the arrival of the woman involved in the sex-for-job scandal.

The young woman was supposed to arrive at 3.30 pm, but there was no trace of her. In an unexpected twist, the court processing was secretly shifted to Gurunanak Bhavan (a temporary court) at Vasanth Nagar. The ACMM judge along with a typist reached the premises in a private car to divert the media attention. "The reason behind shifting the court proceeding is to divert the media and public attention because it is a question of her safety. She was mainly concerned about her security in her video clip statement, so we deployed a force and this step of shifting the location was much needed," said a senior police official requesting anonymity.

The woman reached Gurunanak Bhavan by 3 pm accompanied by a few advocates and gave statement under Section 164 of the CrPC before the judge. The whole proceedings lasting for two hours were done in in camera. The contents of her statement would be made public only during trial.

Later, she was taken to the interrogation technical cell in Adugodi, Bengaluru around 6.15 pm amid tight police security, where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) officials would question her about her allegations of rape charges against Jarkiholi. Reacting to the media after women's court proceedings, her advocate Jagadesh Kumar said "The woman has recorded her complete statement in front of an ACMM judge, which cannot be disclosed at this moment. We are sure that justice will be done to her."