BJP MLA N Munirathna steps out of jail, arrested in rape case

Bengaluru: BJP MLA N Munirathna was arrested in a case of repeated rape minutes after he stepped out of Parappana Agrahara Prison, where he had been lodged for three days in connection with an SC/ST atrocity case and was granted bail.

A 40-year-old social worker has accused Munirathna of raping her on multiple occasions and filed a complaint with Kaggalipura police on Wednesday night.

Munirathna was lodged in Parappana Agrahara over the SC/ST atrocity case filed in Bengaluru’s Vyalikaval police station. The civil contractor-turned-film producer-turned-politician was arrested on September 14 from Kolar’s Mulabagal taluk. A Bengaluru court granted him bail on Thursday.

Anticipating his release on Friday, a team from Ramanagara district police camped near the Central Prison in Southeast Bengaluru and picked up the RR Nagar legislator as soon as he stepped out.

On Thursday, Kaggalipura police made the complainant undergo a medical examination and later recorded her confession statement before a magistrate. The police also visited a godown, where the woman claimed that Munirathna allegedly assaulted her sexually.

This is the third criminal case against Munirathna since September 13. Kaggalipura police have invoked IPC sections related to rape, sexual harassment, voyeurism, criminal intimidation, and extortion, among other offences. Six others—Vijay Kumar, Sudhakar, Kiran Kumar, Lohith Gowda, Manjunatha, and Loki—are also named for abetting the criminal conspiracy.