Karnataka Congress expels party leader over sexual harassment case | Bengaluru

Karnataka Congress leader B Gurappa Naidu, who has been booked for alleged sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of a woman, was on Saturday expelled from the primary membership of the party for a period of six years.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), disciplinary action committee Chairman K Rahaman Khan announced Naidu’s expulsion from the party through a press release.

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Sexual harassment case registered against him has been citied as the reason for the move. Naidu, who is also the General Secretary of KPCC, has been booked under IPC Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

The FIR was registered on November 26, based on the complaint by a 38-year-old woman, who worked as a teacher at a school where the suspect is the Chairman.

Recently, the Bengaluru police lodged a first information report (FIR) against Dharwad Congress MLA and former minister Vinay Kulkarni for allegedly raping a 34-year-old woman based on a complaint from her. 

Kulkarni’s associate Arjun is a co-accused in the case. The woman, who describes herself as a social worker, filed a complaint against the two at the Sanjaynagar police station in Bengaluru.

Kulkarni refuted the allegations and filed a counter-complaint, accusing the woman and Rakesh Shetty, the managing director of a private news channel which featured the woman’s allegations and a purported video evidence, of attempting to extort ₹2 crore from him.

The woman complainant told police that she had first met Kulkarni in early 2022 at his Bengaluru residence after being introduced by someone who was known to both.

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