Bengaluru:
Kannada actor Ranya Rao – arrested last week at Bengaluru airport for smuggling “17 gold bars” into India – said Wednesday she had been “denied her right to sleep”. The claim was made as Ms Rao, whose stepfather is a top police officer in Karnataka, was arguing for bail in a special court.
Ms Rao’s counsel also claimed the 31-year-old had not been made aware of her rights when she was arrested, and that there were other protocol violations when a team from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence took her into custody as she was leaving the Bengaluru airport.
The statement, for example, that Ranya Rao gave the authorities was “not voluntary”, her lawyer said, urging the court to therefore rule it inadmissible.
It was also argued that “courts have been granting bail in IPC 302 cases (i.e., murder charges) if the accused is a lady”. Ms Rao’s lawyer then asked, “Why cannot she be granted bail in this offence, where the quantum of punishment is less?”
