Andhra minister's son denied bail in molestation case

Rejecting the bail petition of the son of an Andhra Pradesh minister in a molestation case, a city court sent him to police custody for two days.

The bail petition of Ravela Susheel, son of Social and Tribal Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu, and a petition by police seeking his custody for two days were taken up for hearing in Nampally Criminal Court, and the court allowed police to take custody of Susheel on March 9 and 10 for further questioning.

Susheel and his driver M. Ramesh were sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a magistrate on Sunday. They are currently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail.

Both Susheel and Ramesh, booked under Nirbhaya Act, surrendered in Banjara Hills police station late Saturday night.

They had allegedly molested a woman in Banjara Hills area here on March 3.

The woman, a teacher, said in her in complaint that she was walking on the road when a car stopped near her and the occupants asked her to come inside and even tried to drag her in by holding her hand.

When the woman raised an alarm, locals beat up the duo and handed them over to police. Police booked only the driver for misbehaving but no arrests were made.

Police swung into action the next day following media reports about police attempts to hush up the case.

Denying the charges, Susheel claimed that he spotted a puppy on the road and got down from car to pick it up but the woman with no reasons started shouting and abusing.

Meanwhile, Susheel's father said in the state assembly on Tuesday that if his son is found guilty, he will get the punishment.

The minister said this when leader of opposition Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy spoke about the incident during the debate on the occasion of the international women's day.

The minister said when he learnt about the case, he himself made his son surrender to police. He also said he will not forgive his son, if he is proved guilty.