Published Jun 20, 2026 | 1:31 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 20, 2026 | 1:31 PM
Bandi Sai Bageerath, accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
Synopsis: The original FIR, registered on 8 May, carried charges under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 11 read with 12 of the POCSO Act, sexual harassment offences carrying a maximum sentence of three to five years. The charges were then altered to Section 5(I) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Invoking Section 5 revises the charges from sexual harassment to aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
Bandi Bageerath, accused in the POCSO case, has been interim granted bail by the Malkajgiri court in Hyderabad, on Friday, 19 June, and has been released from the jail.
The court granted Bandi Bageerath the interim bail for seven days, until 26 June, solely to attend his final engineering exams. He is the student of Mahindra University in Hyderabad.
According to an ANI report, the relief is temporary in nature and subject to the conditions imposed by the Court.
He was arrested by the Telangana police on 16 May, eight days after the FIR was registered against him.
Bageerath’s arrest came a day after the Vacation Bench of the Telangana High Court declined to grant his request for interim relief. The police recorded his arrest after a magistrate had taken the survivor’s statement.
Also Read: POCSO sections against Bandi Bageerath revised
The episode came to light a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hyderabad on 10 May, to address a public meeting.
The complaint against Bandi Sai Bageerath was that the girl, aged around 17, was made to consume alcohol and then sexually assaulted at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Initially, the FIR was registered under Section 74 and 75 of BNS and Section 11/12 of the POCSO Act. Later on 12 May, investigators upgraded the charges to some of the most serious offences under the POCSO Act.
The development came from Pet Basheerabad police station, where the investigating officer altered the sections of law after recording the survivor’s statement.
The original FIR, registered on 8 May, carried charges under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 11 read with 12 of the POCSO Act, sexual harassment offences carrying a maximum sentence of three to five years.
The charges were then altered to Section 5(I) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Invoking Section 5 revises the charges from sexual harassment to aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
Section 5(I) of POSCO refers to penetrative sexual assault causing survivors hurt or causing bodily harm and injury or injury to the sexual organs of the child.
Section 6 prescribes the punishment: a minimum of 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment, extendable to life imprisonment, meaning the remainder of the convict’s natural life, or death, along with a fine paid to the survivor for medical expenses and rehabilitation.
(With inputs from Sumit Jha)
