Karnataka minister Metti resigns over sex tape allegations

Karnataka Excise Minister HY Metti offered his resignation to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday following allegations of his involvement in a purported sex tape. Television channels reported that the chief minister has approved his resignation. Till Monday, Metti had refuted the allegations. No one knows if there was a tape, but a Karnataka Excise Minister HY Meti is already in a sex scandal “I am ready for any kind of investigation. Let them release the CD. I have not done anything wrong. I saw Rajashekar for the first time on TV. A video can be taken anywhere, even inside my house when I am with my wife. As far as Vijayalakshmi is concerned, she is my relative and I have known her for years. That does not mean that I will have such a relationship with her,” an angry Meti lashed out at mediapersons on Sunday evening. On December 11, regional TV channel BTV aired an interview where a woman, whose face was covered, claimed that the 71-year-old Congress minister demanded sexual favours in return for carrying out transfers in his department. Following that interview, a serious of news reports were aired by various regional media outlets carrying different angles of the story. The story broke out after an RTI activist Rajashekar Molali from Bellary claimed that he had seen the alleged video in a CD. In one report, a lady identified as Vijayalakhsmi, who is also a relative of the minister was reported to be the woman in the video.  However, Vijayalakhsmi lashed out at a TV anchor for “dragging her into the scandal” and denied being part of the tape. Another channel aired an interview of Vijayalakhsmi’s husband. In the interview, her husband said that he had failed to contact his wife for three days. One of the channels aired an audio tape where one Subhash (apparently, the minister’s aide) is heard offering bribe to the RTI activist to keep his mouth shut on the matter. But the minister denied knowing Subhash or Molali.