Thiruvananthapuram Cantonment police on Saturday, May 4, registered a case against Mayor Arya Rajendran and her husband and MLA Sachin Dev, for allegedly blocking a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus in the state capital. The arguments between the Mayor and KSRTC driver have sparked a huge controversy in Kerala over the past few days.
As per reports, Sachin Dev and Arya are the first and second accused in the case respectively. Police correspondingly registered a case against 3 identifiable persons.
The police registered the case following the direction of Thiruvananthapuram Additional Magistrate Court while considering the petition moved by Advocate Baiju Noyal. He approached the court on April 30 and claimed the Cantonment police and City Police Commissioner ignored the complaint against the Mayor and MLA. The KSRTC driver also approached the court, and as per the report, his plea would be considered on Monday, May 6.
The controversial incident took place on April 27, when the Mayor and her family got into a heated argument with the KSRTC bus driver by blocking the bus in Thiruvananthapuram. Arya alleged that the driver made sexually suggestive gestures at them.
Following the incident, the Mayor filed a complaint against the driver. Arya stated that when the car turned from Plamoodu to PMG, the KSRTC bus approached rashly from one side and nearly brushed past them. When Arya and her sister-in-law looked at the bus, the driver allegedly made a vulgar gesture with sexual connotations. Following the mayor’s complaint, a case was filed against the driver, Yadhu, on April 28, under Section 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, the driver denied this allegation and said it was an issue of not giving way to her vehicle. He also lodged a complaint against the mayor and MLA for interrupting his duty and disrupting the trip. On May 2, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission ordered a probe into the driver's complaint.