Based on a complaint from a 17-year-old girl's mother, senior Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Bengaluru police said today, Friday, March 15.
During a meeting on February 2, the complainant claimed that Yediyurappa had sexually assaulted her daughter, according to PTI.
Multiple news reports say that the FIR details that Yediyurappa allegedly took the girl into a room and sexually assaulted her. When confronted by the mother, he purportedly replied that he was “checking whether the girl was raped or not”. The FIR further says that the BJP stalwart later apologised to the mother, and requested her to not reveal the incident to anyone.
The BJP veteran has been charged under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to Sadashivanagar police.
According to police sources, the girl's mother had previously filed more than 50 complaints against several prominent people, including the then-Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar and his employees, for allegedly assaulting and manhandling the young girl.
In addition, she filed complaints against retired Bengaluru Police Commissioner and BJP leader Bhaskar Rao on January 18, 2022, alleging that he was "conspiring to ruin her life", and against Kumar twice, on January 29, 2021 and September 21, 2022.
Video proof of incident?
Allegedly, two videos seem to have been taken by the girl when she went to meet Yediyurappa at his house with her mother.
In the first video, the mother of the girl is heard calling Yediyurappa 'Appa Ji' and mentioning that she is from Shivamogga, the district where the BJP politician is from.
She supposedly informs him that she needs his assistance and has enormous wealth – many crores of rupees – which is embroiled in legal disputes.
The girl's mother is seen holding Yediyurappa's hand and sitting next to him shortly after they enter his home in the second video.
Yediyurappa & BJP react
Yediyurappa, in reaction to the video, said that the woman had been trying to meet him but was never allowed to enter his house.
"Once when she was crying, I called her inside my house and spoke to the Police Commissioner B Dayananda, that some injustice had happened to her. However, when she started speaking something against me in front of me, I concluded that this woman is not proper," he said.
She twisted the facts and added her own spin to the matter after meeting the Police Commissioner, Yediyurappa alleged.
"I heard that an FIR has been registered against me. I will do whatever has to be done legally but this also happens when one tries to help somebody," the BJP Parliamentary Board member said.
He added that he even gave her money.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said, "Till the investigation is completed, we cannot say anything. We have to be extremely cautious in our statement because it pertains to a former chief minister. We need to make our statement carefully because a woman has lodged a complaint."
“Some people say the woman is mentally sick,” Parameshwara maintained.
