Bangalore: Former minister S A Ramdas attempts suicide
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
With DHNS Inputs
Bangalore, Feb 11: In a shocking incident, former Karnataka minister S A Ramdas attempted suicide after a woman claiming to be his wife alleged that he had been harassing her.
A woman, identified as Premakumari, appeared before the media on Tuesday February 11 and claimed that she had been married to Ramdas for the past five years but he had refused to acknowledge their marriage.
She also alleged that he had cheated her and had been harassing her for the last five years. She claimed that she had been his 'unofficial' wife and that the former minister had ruined her life.
Ramdas, who was the minister for medical education in the previous BJP government, reportedly tried to commit suicide by hanging himself in a Mysore guest house he was staying in, hours after the media flashed Premakumari's claims.
He was rushed to a hospital in Mysore and reports stated that his condition was critical. He was declared out of danger by night, sources said.
Speaking to the media after the suicide attempt, Premakumari said that her intention in coming before the media was only to seek justice for the wrong done to her and not to push Ramdas to commit suicide.
Premakumari also said that before attempting suicide, Ramdas had called her on phone while she was in the press conference, and threatened to kill himself by consuming poison if she did not end the press meet.
As crowds began to swell, there was a minor altercation with demands that media persons be sent out of the hospital premises. Mahesh, BJP city unit president Maruti Rao Pawar and corporator Shivakumar intervened to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
Earlier in the day, Premakumari, a second division clerk at the deputy commissioner’s office in Tumkur, alleged at a press conference that Ramdas had “sexually and mentally harassed” her. Ramdas “used his authority as a minister to transfer her frequently”, she claimed.
Premakumari said she first met Ramdas in 2009 for a transfer from the assistant commissioner’s office in Tarikere to the DC’s office in Mysore.
Later, she was transfered to the HMT maternity hospital, Mysore on deputation, where she worked for three years. Thereafter, Premakumari said, she was transfered to the DC’s office in Mysore by the end of 2012. “Within three months, Ramdas again transferred me to Tumkur. I refused to go there, as the education of my two children would have been affected,” she added.
At the press meet, Premakumari received a phone call which she said was that of Ramdas and put the phone on the loudspeaker. The caller said, “Don’t do anything, or else I will consume poison and commit suicide.”
“Ramdas married me unofficially at his home. Now he should marry me openly and accept me as his wife,” she demanded. Premakumari said she had photographs, videos and mobile phone clippings to substantiate her allegations which would be produced before the media. She said would also make a complaint to the police.