Telangana MP's Son Seeks Bail in POCSO Case Amid Political Controversy

Bandi Sai Bageerath approached the Telangana High Court on Tuesday, June 30, seeking bail in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case registered against him. The son of Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar states in his petition that the case is politically motivated and maintains his innocence. The High Court will hear his plea on Wednesday, July 1. Bageerath, 25, was granted a week-long interim bail by a POCSO court to appear for his “special” supplementary examinations at Mahindra University. He surrendered back at Cherlapally Central Prison on June 25. The interim bail came amid a continuing criminal case. The complaint was filed against Bageerath on May 8 at Pet Basheerabad Police Station by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged he sexually assaulted her daughter on two occasions at a farmhouse on the outskirts of . Charges were subsequently altered to aggravated penetrative sexual assault on May 12, and police have also invoked provisions relating to repeated assault of the same victim. Bageerath has denied the allegations and filed a counter-complaint alleging extortion, claiming the girl’s family demanded Rs 5 crore and threatened false cases when he refused to marry her. The case has dominated Telangana’s political landscape. Bageerath is the son of Karimnagar MP and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar , one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) most prominent faces in Telangana. The case against him has put his father, as well as the party, in an uncomfortable spotlight.