Yediyurappa was booked based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he molested her daughter.
BS Yediyurappa. (File picture)
The Crime Investigation Department (CID) probing molestation charges against former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday, 27 June filed a charge sheet in the special court dealing with POCSO cases.
After the Sadashivanagar police in Bengaluru registered a case of molestation in March against the BJP stalwart, the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan had issued an order transferring it to the CID for further investigation.
Yediyurappa had denied the charge, and said “people would teach a lesson to those indulging in conspiracies against me.”
“The mother and daughter often used to come here but we did not entertain them,” he had told media two weeks back, denying the allegations.
“Once when she was in tears, we called her inside and asked about her problems. She complained of injustice and other things. I telephoned the police commissioner (Bengaluru City) and asked him to look into their complaint. I sent them to the commissioner’s office. Thereafter, she started to create a nuisance,” the former chief minister said.
The Karnataka High Court had earlier passed orders restraining the CID from arresting Yediyurappa in the case.
Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he molested her daughter during a meeting on 2 February this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru.
The 54-year-old woman, who had leveled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital last month, due to lung cancer.
After a special court in Bengaluru issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Karnataka CM in the POCSO case, the High Court on 14 June, had restrained the CID from arresting him.
It also directed the veteran BJP leader to appear before CID, which is probing the case, on 17 June. On that day, he was questioned by the CID for three hours.
While issuing the order, the High Court had questioned the need to arrest him. Justice S Krishna Dixit had noted that Yediyurappa is the former CM of Karnataka and not some Tom, Dick or Harry. “He is not some Tom, Dick or Harry. He is a former Chief Minister of State. Is it your case he will flee the country? What can he do by leaving to Delhi from Bangalore,” asked the Justice.
The Special Investigation Team of the CID had moved the First Fast Track Court seeking an arrest warrant against him since he failed to appear for questioning on 12 June. Yediyurappa had sought time to join the probe. The lawyers representing Yediyurappa had confirmed the same to South First.
(Edited by Neena with PTI inputs)
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