A Bengaluru court on September 11 granted interim anticipatory bail to BJP MLA Munirathna in connection with allegations that he threatened and pressured a rape survivor to withdraw the rape case filed by her against a close associate of the MLA.

Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Shivaprasad KB passed the order.

The Court directed that in the event of his arrest in the case registered at Rajarajeshwari Nagar Police Station, Munirathna be released on executing a personal bond of ₹2 lakh with one surety.

The Court directed Munirathna not to threaten, intimidate or tamper with prosecution evidence or contact prosecution witnesses, and ordered him to cooperate with the investigation whenever called by the police and not leave the jurisdiction of the concerned Magistrate.

The case stemmed from a complaint lodged by a 36-year-old woman, who alleged that she became acquainted with one Ravishankar through Facebook in 2018.

According to the complaint, Ravishankar took her against her will to a lodge in Dharwad in 2019, where he allegedly kept her for three days and raped her. She subsequently lodged a complaint against him in 2021 at Chanakyapuri Police Station in Delhi for rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the complainant, Munirathna later got acquainted with the complainant and took her to various resorts where other persons tried to rape her and photographed her.

The complainant further alleged that Munirathna later took her and her sister to Delhi and pressured them to withdraw the case against Ravishankar.

The matter will be heard next on September 15.