Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa appears before CID in POCSO case
On Friday, the High Court had stayed the Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s arrest on charges of allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa appeared before the Criminal Investigation Department on Monday in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl, reported The Indian Express.
The BJP leader allegedly sexually assaulted the minor on February 2 when she, along with her mother, had gone to his house seeking his help in a rape case investigation.
The complainant claimed that she was asked to go to another room while her mother was explaining the details of her rape case, which has pending since 2015, to Yediyurappa. It was there that the former chief minister subsequently allegedly molested her, reported The News Minute.
A first information report was registered against the former chief minister on March 15 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
On May 26, the mother of the girl died of health complications.
The Criminal Investigation Department had issued summons to Yediyurappa to appear before it for questioning on June 12. This came after the 17-year-old filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court asking why the politician had not been arrested yet, reported The Hindu.
Responding to the summons, Yediyurappa said that he was in New Delhi and would appear for questioning on Monday. The investigating agency then moved an application for an arrest warrant against Yediyurappa in Bengaluru’s fast-track court.
The court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Yediyurappa. On Friday, however, the Karnataka High Court stayed the BJP leader’s arrest.
A single-judge bench of Justice S Krishna Dixit said that Yediyurappa was unlikely to flee and noted that the politician had replied to the summons.
“He [Yediyurappa] is not some Tom, Dick or Harry,” the High Court remarked. “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.”
The court then passed an order directing that no coercive action be taken against the BJP leader until further orders.