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New twist to Rama Rao episode

Special Correspondent

Five students hailing from Kerala accuse MLA of sexual harassment

HYDERABAD: The episode involving Telugu Desam MLA T.V. Rama Rao took a new turn on Saturday when five students of the nursing college lodged a written complaint with Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy that the legislator indeed made attempts to outrage their modesty.

The MLA is chairman and managing director of Spruha College of Nursing, Nidadavole, in which the five girls, all belonging to Kerala, are pursuing B.Sc. Nursing course. They submitted a detailed complaint that was also signed by their parents, some of whom accompanied them to the Minister. They were led by Shibu Chacko of Kerala-based J. K. Associates, the agency which helped them get admission to the college.

Amid a high voltage drama in the Secretariat, the students rushed to the Minister’s chamber from their car to avoid the battery of television and still photographers. Two of the students broke down in the Minister’s presence while narrating how the MLA made overtures to them in the college hostel. The Minister assured them that she would refer their complaint to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which was already probing the case.

Mr. Rama Rao, however, told journalists in Yashoda Hospital where he is admitted that the charges of sexual harassment made against him by the students were part of a “political conspiracy” hatched against him by the ruling Congress party. He claimed that the students were forced by the Congress leaders to lodge complaint against him.

Alleging that there was threat to his life, Mr. Rama Rao asserted that he was prepared to face any consequences. He recalled that a few students were already handed over their transfer certificates and other documents. In their complaint, the students said the MLA took advantage of them and behaved “abnormally”. He had a room for himself in the hostel close to another room where the girls stayed. After the issue came to light, the students and parents, who came to Nidadavole, were locked up in separate rooms for three days.

Cell phones of the students were taken away and they were transported later to Nellore en route to their native places. The MLA’s son followed their vehicle in a convoy along with his followers, but Mr. Chacko brought them back from Kerala, the students said.

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