Case registered against Madhavi Latha for checking ID card of Muslim woman inside polling booth

HYDERABAD: BJP candidate for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat Madhavi Latha made a lot of noise on the polling day, by roaming around her constituency, checking voter ID cards, enquiring about the addresses and other details of the voters, who were standing in queues.

She even went to the extent of asking women voters to remove their burqa to verify their identities vis-à-vis their ID cards.

Madhavi Latha was seen in a video footage saying that she was checking details of Muslim women on her own instead of referring the issue to the polling staff on duty. Her action went viral on social media within a short time.

Hyderabad police registered a case against her for allegedly trespassing into a polling station and asking Muslim women to remove their burqa and reveal their identity, Since the incident took place in Azampura under Malakpet Assembly limits, the Malakpet police booked the case under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act.

Defending herself, she said "I am a candidate. As per law, a candidate has the right to check the ID cards without the facemasks. I am a woman and humbly asked them. I have only requested them - can I please see and verify with the ID cards? If somebody wants to make a big issue out of it, it means that they are scared."

Mangalhat police booked another case against Madhavi Latha and BJP followers on charges of manipulating voters by using dummy EVMs. When local police officials took two BJP workers into custody along with fake EVMs, she rushed to the police station and reportedly made attempts to free her men and also take away the seized dummy EVMs.

The Goshamahal police initially booked cases against BJP workers Rakesh Goud and Bunny. Later, Madhavi Latha was also booked for obstructing police and taking away the seized EVMs from police custody, said an official.

Meanwhile, a tense atmosphere prevailed for some time at Moghalpura after some MIM workers, led by its youth wing leader, raised slogans against her when she was standing on a road. The police immediately rushed to the spot and dispersed them. When they were raising slogans, Madhavi Latha too challenged them with her supporters around.