Ex-TDP MLA sentenced to two years' imprisonment for abusing dalit

Former Telugu Desam Party legislator Kotagiri Hanumantha Rao has been sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 2,500 for abusing a dalit. Rao (66) is a four-term legislator from Nuzvid.

Machilipatnam First Additional District Sessions Judge T Doraswami handed down the sentence on Wednesday in connection with a private complaint under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Nuzvid resident V Balakrishna had filed the case in 1998 alleging that Hanumantha Rao, along with Koneru Subbaraya Prasad, cast a casteist slur and hit him with a slipper.

Subbaraya Prasad has also been sentenced to two years RI and fined Rs 2,500.