A Bengaluru court on Thursday has issued a non-bailable warrant for BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal due to his failure to appear in a case concerning his alleged derogatory remarks about Dinesh Gundu Rao’s wife, Tabassum Rao.
The controversy arose from Yatnal’s comments, in which he purportedly suggested that there was “half Pakistan” in Rao’s family.
In response to these remarks, Tabassum Rao filed a petition against Yatnal and also lodged a complaint with the Karnataka State Women’s Commission, alleging that the BJP’s social media cell had made derogatory comments about her. Rao, who is not politically active, expressed her discontent at being targeted in political disputes.
She stressed the importance of respecting women and condemned the communal implications of Yatnal’s comments, asserting that political disagreements should not devolve into personal attacks on family members.
The court has set the next hearing for October 28, as the legal proceedings continue.
