Telangana cadre IAS officer booked by Delhi cops for minor’s rape

HYDERABAD: An IAS officer from the Telangana Biodiversity Board was booked by the Delhi police for the alleged rape of a minor girl. While the complaint was lodged in 2020 and a charge sheet was filed by the Tilak Marg police, the case is undergoing trial at Patiala House court, Delhi, wherein on January 4, summons were issued to the accused, who is currently residing in Hyderabad.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is in the possession of Deccan Chronicle, Kalicharan Sudamrao Khartade, an IAS officer of 2012 Telangana cadre, had allegedly sedated, raped and continued to threaten the victim with photos and videos he took when she was unconscious. The FIR mentioned that he called her to his chamber at Telangana Bhavan, New Delhi, and offered her a drink laced with sedatives.  

Speaking to this newspaper, the victim’s lawyer, Piyush Sachdev, said the Patiala House court had issued summons and he had not appeared in the court yet. “He did not appear in court when he was summoned to appear physically. However, he has been virtually attending the hearings. The last one was on January 4. Meanwhile, his lawyers are applying for a bail plea in the case. Investigation wise, the Tilak Marg police filed a charge sheet and submitted it in the court. He has been threatening her by saying that he is an influential man and can harm her family, fearing that she has not approached the police earlier,” he said, adding that a letter was sent to the Chief Secretary of Telangana and other officials here.

It was also mentioned in the FIR that he got in touch with the victim via Facebook in 2013 and offered to help her prepare for civil services exams. He asked her to meet him at the chamber and sent a government vehicle to pick her up. It further said that he had sexually assaulted the girl on multiple occasions ever since by threatening to publish the videos and photos online and even married her at Arya Samaj on August 21, 2019. The girl even came to visit him in Hyderabad during the lockdown in 2020, and went back to Delhi on August 6, 2020. Following a complaint on November 28, 2021, Tilak Marg police booked cases under Section 376 (rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence.), 354 (assault), 354-A (sexual assault), 354-D (follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest by such woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The POCSO sections were added when the Delhi Commission for Women intervened.

Sources from the Telangana Bhavan, New Delhi, on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the issue and said that following the police case, a departmental enquiry was launched and the accused was transferred to Telangana Biodiversity Board.