The Telangana High Court on Thursday granted bail to Bandi Bhageerath, the son of Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a case pertaining to the alleged sexual assault of a girl reported to be 17 years old, The Times of India reported.

He had surrendered before the Telangana Police on May 16, hours after the High Court declined to give interim protection from arrest in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act case. The police, however, have maintained that he was apprehended on the outskirts of Hyderabad, The Times of India reported.

The parents of the girl have alleged that Bhageerath befriended their daughter on the pretext of marriage and sexually assaulted her at a farmhouse in Moinabad on December 31.

Based on the girl’s statement, the police added charges of rape under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Pocso to the first information report.

Bhageerath has denied the allegations and registered a complaint accusing the girl and her family of blackmailing and extorting him of Rs 5 crore. Based on his complaint, the police registered a case of extortion and criminal intimidation against the girl and her parents.

On June 20, he was granted four-day interim bail to appear for an exam, The Hindu reported.

Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.