BJP leader Arun Kumar Puthila in court for sexual assault and extortion

Karnataka Police have filed a sexual harassment case against BJP leader Arun Kumar Puthila following a complaint by a 47-year-old woman.

The plaintiff alleges that the BJP politician sexually harassed her in a hotel in Bengaluru in June last year.

According to the plaintiff, the defendant took photos and videos during the attacks and used them to blackmail the plaintiff.

According to a report by India Today, the BJP leader has been charged with cheating, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. The complaint against Arun Kumar was filed in Dakshina Kannada district.

Last year, Puthila unsuccessfully contested the Karnataka assembly elections as an independent candidate against Asha Thimmappa of BJP and Ashok Kumar Rai of Congress. Despite being an independent candidate, he gave a tough fight to the winning Congress candidate Ashok Rai who secured over 66,000 votes while Puthila secured 62,458 votes and came second. He later joined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In other news, the Karnataka State Commission for Women has sought a police investigation into the death of a woman who had accused senior BJP politician and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa of sexually abusing her minor daughter. The commission has also asked the Bengaluru police for a report as there are suspicions surrounding the woman's death and burial.

The woman who had accused the BJP politician of sexually assaulting her minor daughter at his Bengaluru residence in February died in May. Doctors said her cause of death was lung cancer.