Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Tuesday said he felt like a “rape victim” as he was being asked questions repeatedly about the charges made against him in audio tapes released by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy last week, PTI reported.

“My situation is like that of a rape victim,” Kumar, a Congress member, said in the Assembly, according to ANI. “The rape happened just once. If you had left it at that, it would have passed. When you complain that a rape has happened, accused is put in jail. But his lawyers ask how did it happen? When did it happen and how many times? The rape happens once but you get raped a 100 times in the court. This is my condition.”

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The state government has set up an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team into the audio clips. Kumaraswamy had claimed that the clips prove that state Bharatiya Janata Party chief BS Yeddyurappa offered Janata Dal (Secular) MLA Naganagowda Kandkur’s son Sharangouda Rs 25 lakh and a ministerial post for his father in an attempt to poach them.

The clips also purportedly showed a person identified by Kumaraswamy as a BJP MLA telling the JD(S) MLA’s son that “all arrangements have been made for the Speaker to accept the resignations when the number of [rebel] MLAs touches 15”. “The money has been fed to him...Rs 50 crore...the Speaker,” the man said, according to The Indian Express.

Yeddyurappa on Sunday admitted that his voice featured in the clip and he had met the MLA’s son, but still said Kumaraswamy “doctored” the clip. He had earlier said he would quit politics if the allegations were true.

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After the Speaker sought an SIT inquiry, Yeddyurappa said in the Assembly that no effort was made by Kumar to seek the opinion of the Opposition before deciding on the inquiry. “SIT is being imposed upon us forcefully.” The BJP wanted a House committee or a judicial inquiry, he said.

Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy admitted that he had asked the MLA’s son to meet BJP leaders.