(Trigger warning: Mentions of rape.)
"What did I do to her? Did I rape her?"
This is what Karnataka BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali told a reporter who asked him why he threatened a woman activist in public.
The activist, Ruth Sagay Mary, who also works for the Congress party, had tried to meet Limbavali during his visit to the flood-affected areas in Whitefield. Limbavali tried to snatch the petition from her, and when Ruth asked him to listen to her woes, he lashed out and threatened her. In a video that went viral, he can be heard saying that he would get her booted into prison.
On September 3, a reporter with Kannada news channel Digvijaya TV approached the MLA for his reaction to this episode. A clip that the channel put out shows the MLA in an off-the-cuff conversation with the reporter before the interview begins.
"You are speaking in favour of women. Speak in favour of the people. That's what I am trying to tell. What have I done? Have I raped her?" the MLA asks the reporter.
Ruth had earlier spoken to the media about how the police had detained her.
"MLA Limbavali has instructed the police to boot me out into the prison repeatedly. He told me: 'Do you have any respect and honour? You encroach the land and now you come in front of the MLA.' He also asked the police to drag me to the police station and made me sit there," Ruth stated.
What Was the Issue About?
The activist maintained that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was trying to demolish her property built in 1971. Whatever the issue, the MLA could have behaved properly with me in public, she stated.
Ruth alleged that she was kept in the police station till 10 pm and was not allowed to make any calls. She also alleged that MLA Limbavali tried to drag her by her hand and tried to hit her. In his defence, Limbavali stated that he had only asked the woman to clear the encroachment.
This is not the first instance of misbehaviour involving MLA Limbavali. In July this year, a tweet from Whitefield Rising about Bengaluru's infrastructure woes and citizen despair over lack of coordination, tagging the handle of Mahadevapura Task Force-Mobility, and the latter's response to the comments it evoked had turned into a full-fledged Twitter war.
Mahadevapura Task Force is headed by Limbavali and regularly gives updates on roads, traffic management, sustainable mobility, metro, and suburban rail. But the handle often receives criticism for its way of handling citizen concerns through Twitter.
In another instance in June, the MLA's daughter Renuka Limbavali was caught on camera arguing with traffic police and name-dropping when she was stopped for a traffic violation on Bengaluru's Raj Bhavan Road.
"I was not driving rashly. Will you book me for overtaking the ACP's car? What is this? This is an MLA vehicle, for your information. What is an ACP's vehicle and what is an MLA’s vehicle?" Renuka was heard saying in the video that surfaced.
Meanwhile, Revenue Department official Parthasarathy has lodged a complaint against Ruth, alleging obstruction to their duty, at the Whitefield police station.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)