A POCSO case was filed against Yediyurappa on 14 March, after a woman accused him of sexually harassed her 17-year-old rape-survivor daughter.
Published Jun 12, 2024 | 3:26 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 12, 2024 | 6:07 PM
File photo of BS Yediyurappa. (Supllied)
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday, 12 June, approached the Karnataka High Court seeking cancellation of a POCSO case against him.
Yediyurappa has asked the high court to dismiss the case because the complaint against him “contains no elements of a crime.”
Meanwhile, CID has issued a notice to Yediyurappa to appear before its probe team for an inquiry in connection with the POCSO case police sources said on Wednesday.
Yediyurappa is presently in Delhi, and he is likely to join the probe after he returns, sources close to him said.
“The CID had sent a notice yesterday (11 June) asking him to appear today (12 June). However, since he is presently in Delhi, he has sought time. He will appear before the police after three days,” a party source said.
The CID has already recorded the statement of the victim and her mother under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), police added.
A POCSO case was filed against him on 14 March, after a woman complained to the Sadashivanagar police, saying Yediyurappa had sexually harassed her 17-year-old daughter.
Based on her complaint, Yediyurappa was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of IPC. The case was transferred to the CID for further investigation.
Recently, the survivor’s mother, who complained, passed away after a prolonged illness in a private hospital in Bengaluru.
The case stems from a woman’s complaint alleging that Yediyurappa molested her minor daughter on 2 February 2024.
In the complaint against Yediyurappa, she alleged that the BJP leader held the minor daughter’s hand throughout the conversation and later took her to a separate room, where he sexually harassed her.
The complainant protested outside the Sadashivanagar police station for hours on 14 March, demanding an FIR be filed. After nearly five hours of reluctance, the police filed the FIR against 81-year-old Yediyurappa.
Senior-most Lingayat leader of the BJP in Karnataka, Yediyurappa has been booked under sections 8 of the POCSO Act and 354 (A) of the IPC.
The minor is already a rape survivor.
Soon after, the case was transferred to the CID.
However, Yediyurappa denied her allegations. He admitted to meeting her at his residence when she had approached him seeking help but did not molest her daughter.
On 29 April, the woman requested the Karnataka State Commission for Women to intervene in the case and order the immediate arrest of Yediyurappa.
“Make sure that unbiased investigation is done to ensure justice for my minor daughter,” she had urged the women’s panel.
“… the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) is violating the stringent POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) laws by not arresting the POCSO case accused, the powerful ex-CM BS Yediyurappa and the sexual pervert is roaming freely,” she wrote in the letter.
It may also be noted that the deceased woman had lodged similarly 53 complaints against several people including her husband, police officers investigating the rape case of her daughter, and leaders of Opposition parties.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with PTI inputs)
