Mandya: Days ago, an altercation took place between a woman police sub-inspector and the daughter of Bhartiya Janta Party MLA B Suresh Gowda at a temple in Srirangapatna. CCTV footage of the incident has
now surfaced on social media.
The footage shows the MLA's daughter, Aishwarya, engaging in a heated exchange with PSI Savitha B Patil at the Aarti Ukkada temple. At one point, Aishwarya appears to make a phone call before slapping the cop. Savitha then appears to strike back, following which other people at the spot intervene and separate the two. The incident took place on August 12.
The incident took place at around 8:15 pm during Bhima Amavasya celebrations. The incident was reportedly triggered by a dispute over entry into the temple's sanctum sanctorum, according to NDTV.
Savitha later filed a complaint at Kyathanahalli Police Station over the incident. There have also been allegations that a counter-complaint was not accepted by police. Savitha, attached to the Mandya Women's Police Station, was deployed for crowd-control duty at the temple.
According to her complaint, Aishwarya arrived with others and sought to enter the sanctum without waiting in the queue. When Savitha asked her to wait for a few minutes to avoid inconvenience to devotees, Aishwarya allegedly identified herself as the MLA's daughter and questioned why she was being stopped. The argument allegedly escalated, with Aishwarya abusing and slapping the PSI and threatening to affect her career. Savitha subsequently filed a complaint at Kyathanahalli Police Station.
MLA apologises over incident
MLA B Suresh Gowda has apologised over the incident, while also saying the police officer had verbally abused his daughter. The MLA also said his daughter should have exercised restraint as a member of a political family and called for a departmental probe into the incident. Gowda further opposed VIP arrangements at temples, saying devotees should be treated equally and made to follow the same queue system to avoid inconvenience to the public and reduce pressure on police personnel.
FIR registered against Aishwarya
An FIR has been registered against Aishwarya. Police registered an FIR against Aishwarya under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly assaulting a public servant, causing simple hurt, intentional insult and criminal intimidation.
