Karnataka CID files charge sheet against ex-CM Yediyurappa under POCSO Act

The 81-year-old BJP strongman was been booked under the Section 8 of the POCSO Act and the Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Karnataka Crime Investigation Department (CID) on June 27 filed a charge sheet against former chief minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor.

The 81-year-old leader has been charged under Section 8 of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Section 8 of the POCSO Act provides for a minimum three years of jail which can be extended to five years. Yediyurappa also faces charges of sexual harassment, destruction of evidence and offering gifts in return of screening the offenders under IPC.

The case was registered on the complaint of the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that the former CM molested her daughter at his residence during a meeting in February.

According to the complaint filed on March 14, the minor was assaulted on February 2 when the mother and the daughter had gone to Yediyurappa’s house to seek help in a “cheating case related to a business”. The woman complained that she was “cheated of several crores” and sought his help to get a special investigation team set up to look into the case.

The 54-year-old woman died in May of lung cancer.

Yediyurappa has denied the charge and said "people would teach a lesson to those indulging in conspiracies against me".

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The CID questioned Yediyurappa for about three hours on June 17.

The Karnataka High Court earlier restrained the CID from arresting Yediyurappa. His plea for interim bail is likely to come up for hearing on June 28.

Yediyurappa was the chief minister of Karnataka between 2008 and 2011 and again between 2018 and 2021.

With PTI inputs