Pressure on SIT to malign me, says woman in Jarkiholi case

In a three-page handwritten letter, the woman wrote to Bengaluru city police commissioner, Kamal Pant, she said that there were attempts made to portray her as the perpetrator and maligning her character.

The woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against the former state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said on Sunday that there was political pressure on the special investigation team (SIT) to portray her “as a conspirator” in the case.

Former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi

In a three-page handwritten letter, the woman wrote to Bengaluru city police commissioner, Kamal Pant, she said that there were attempts made to portray her as the perpetrator and maligning her character.

HT could not independently verify the contents of the letter.

“After seeing the entire process, I am in doubt whether I am a victim or an accused,” the woman said in her letter, which has been made public in social media.

Ramesh Jarkiholi, the former cabinet minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)legislator from Gokak is alleged to have sexually exploited the woman in return of getting her a government job. The woman filed a complaint in March.

Jarkiholi has denied all allegations and alleged that the video and audio recording is part of a larger political conspiracy to end his career.

In the letter, the woman said that despite naming Jarkiholi in her complaint, the accused remains free and that her Paying Guest accommodation was raided and evidence was being destroyed. She has said that the SIT had questioned Jarkiholi for just three hours and gave him time to revert in a few days while the victim was subject to intense interrogation for an entire day.

There was intense pressure on the SIT to make her look like the conspirator and not the victim, she wrote in the letter to the commissioner. She added that there were media reports and content being generated to show her in poor light.

SIT officials refused to comment on the matter.

She even said that chief minister BS Yediyurappa had made a statement that Jarkiholi would come out of the entire episode unscathed. Yediyurappa had backed his former cabinet colleague and even invited the legislator to carry out election duties for the upcoming bypolls in Belagavi and two other constituencies due to be held later this month.