Bengaluru: The Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a chargesheet against former chief minister and BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa for the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl at his Bengaluru residence in February.
This comes two weeks after Yediyurappa filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking to quash the FIR against him in connection with the alleged assault, lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in March.
The CID has charged 81-year-old Yediyurappa, a four-time CM, under Section 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, as well as IPC sections 354A (sexual harassment), 204 (destruction of document or electronic record to prevent its production as evidence) and 214 (offering gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening offender).
The chargesheet, filed in a fast-track court, comes almost four months after the POCSO case was registered against Yediyurappa in Bengaluru’s Sadashivanagar police station on 14 March, on the complaint of the 54-year-old mother of the alleged victim, who is 17.
“The chargesheet has been filed and it is now a matter in the court,” said a senior Karnataka police officer, requesting anonymity.
According to the complaint, Yediyurappa has assaulted the 17-year-old at his residence when she was brought there by her mother, seeking help.
On 13 June, a fast-track court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa, who then moved the high court, which granted anticipatory bail with the condition that he must appear before probe agencies on 17 June.
The former CM was grilled for nearly three hours at the CID office in central Bengaluru, which also houses the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing former prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda’s grandson and Hassan ex-MP Prajwal Revanna, who has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women.
In Yediyurappa’s case, a section of the state BJP had come to the aid of their leader, casting aspersions on the motives of the complainant.
The 17-year-old’s family has also alleged that they were subjected to pressure to withdraw the case. “Calls were made to my mother to withdraw the case,” the alleged victim’s brother told ThePrint Friday.
On 26 May, the 17-year-old’s mother died at a Bengaluru hospital after a long struggle with lung cancer. After her death, the teenager’s brother moved the Karnataka High Court, questioning the slow pace of the investigation.
What happened on 2 February
According to the chargesheet, accessed by ThePrint, at around 11.15 am on 2 February, the 17-year-old and her mother visited Yediyurappa at his home in the upscale Dollars Colony, seeking his help in a previous instance the teen was allegedly sexually assaulted by a relative.
While Yediyurappa was speaking with the mother, he was holding the right wrist of the girl with his left hand, the chargesheet states.
The 81-year-old is then said to have called the minor into a room next to the hall, locked it from inside and asked her questions about those who had assaulted her previously, and what they looked like.
She twice said yes when asked whether she remembered her attackers’ faces.
Yediyurappa then asked the girl her age and went on to touch her inappropriately, according to the chargesheet.
The girl then pushed his hand away, moved away and asked that the door be opened. Yediyurappa then took out some money from his pocket and put it in her hand, it further states. He then told the girl’s mother that he couldn’t help them and sent them away with some more money.
The video
The girl’s mother uploaded a seven minutes long video on Facebook on 20 February which purportedly shows her confronting Yediyurappa at his Dollars Colony home.
“Appaji (a term of endearment in Kannada), what did you do? What did you do after taking her inside (the room)?” the mother is purportedly seen asking Yediyurappa.
“What did I do?” the former CM says in response.
“You took her in (to the room) and put your hand inside her blouse,” says the woman.
“She is like my granddaughter,” Yediyurappa then says.
The woman keeps asking Yediyurappa why he did what he did and the former CM gestures to her to sit, holds her hand, and responds: “She is a good girl. Bring her up well and I will help in any way possible.”
The woman then goes on to explain how her daughter has been repeatedly exploited, and demands the formation of an SIT (special investigation team), asserting that she can present evidence, including “54,000 call records”.
The woman also asks that a SIT be formed with a retired judge like Justice (Retd) Santosh Hegde. She adds that police officers, lawyers, government officials have troubled her family and even alleges receiving death threats.
ThePrint could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
According to the chargesheet, three others — Arun Y. M., Rudresh M. and G. Marisawamy — went to the girl’s home and persuaded the mother to take down the video.
They also wanted her to remove the video from her phone. An amount of Rs 2 lakh was allegedly given to the girl’s family to remain silent.
The girl’s brother claimed this money has been deposited with the CID.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also read: POCSO case: Bengaluru court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Karnataka ex-CM Yediyurappa