BENGALURU — The ruling BJP government in Karnataka has been accused of protecting the accused in a rape case of a Dalit woman in Mysuru, with a group representing the community warning of staging a protest.

On Wednesday, the victim, an engineering graduate, filed a complaint in Mysuru city’s Vijayanagar police station against the accused K.S. Manjunath aka Santro Ravi, her husband who is alleged to have close ties with the state’s BJP leadership.

The incident had taken place in 2019.

The victim claimed that she had gone to Manjunath’s residence seeking a job as it was advertised in a newspaper on March 2, 2019.

The accused offered her a job and when she reported for duty, he gave her juice laced with drugs.

She alleged in the complaint that he raped her in a state of unconsciousness, took her photos and had also blackmailed her.

Later, Manjunath gave her life threat and got married to her forcefully.

Even after their marriage, he continued to harass and assault her, the victim told the police.

As the incident has come to light, Alagoodu Shivakumar, District Convener of the Dalit Sangharsh Samithi, has warned that if the ruling BJP government does not initiate an action against the accused, they would stage a state-wide protest.

“The action should be taken against accused Santro Ravi. He has political connections, the government should take the case seriously,” he warned.

Meanwhile, JD (S) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy accused Majunath of having connections with all Ministers.

An audio clip of the accused talking disrespectfully to a senior police officer has also gone viral.

In the conversation, he asks the cop to address him as ‘sir’ and maintained that the Chief Minister also addresses him as ‘sir’. — IANS