With the Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, the BJP is facing a setback as the Sadashivanagar police on Thursday night registered an FIR against BJP veteran and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor at his Bengaluru residence.
The police have registered a case under the POCSO Act and section 354(a) (sexual harassment) of the IPC.
The complainant, mother of a 17-year-old girl, stated that she, along with her minor daughter, a rape victim, had visited the former CM’s residence on February 2 around 11 am to seek help in a cheating case related to trading business.
The Karnataka government has decided to hand over the investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). An order regarding the transfer of the case to the CID was issued by the office of Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police, Alok Mohan.
“The case registered in Bengaluru City Sadashivnagar Police Station under crime number 0084/2024 under sections Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 is transferred to CID for further investigation with immediate effect. The case file should be handed over to CID for further investigation, forthwith,” read the order copy.
As per the FIR, the complainant alleged that Yediyurappa listened to her problems for “nine minutes” and when she urged him to get the cheating case investigated by a special investigation team (SIT), he said he could not help her in the matter. Further, the woman alleged that all through the conversation Yediyurappa was holding her daughter’s hand and later took the minor girl into a room and sexually harassed her by touching her inappropriately.
“I did not have the courage to report the matter earlier. But now, I thought the issue is too serious to be ignored,” stated the complainant in the FIR.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar rushing to the home minister’s residence on Friday morning had led to speculations over the authenticity of Yediyurappa’s case. Incidentally, the complainant, a 53-year-old woman has filed around 53 cases against various people including former police officers Alok Kumar and Bhaskar Rao and their staff for “supporting” alleged criminals and “ruining her life”.