Bengaluru: A Bengaluru Court on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against former state Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa in connection with an alleged sexual assault case with a minor girl under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.

Earlier in March, the mother of the victim filed a complaint against the former Chief Minister at the Sadashivanagar police station in Bengaluru, alleging that the latter had sexually assaulted her daughter. In this regard, the brother of the victim filed a petition in court against Yediyurappa.

Meanwhile, the fast-track court hearing the petition issued a non-bailable warrant against the former CM of Karnataka, directing the immediate arrest of the accused.

BS Yediyurappa applied for anticipatory bail at a special court (the People Representative Court) seeking protection from arrest under the POCSO Act filed against him, according to a according to a statement from his office.

The BJP veteran, who is also a member of the party's parliamentary board, is presently in Delhi, and he is likely to join the probe after he returns, sources close to him have said.

The Case

Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act and Section 354 A (Sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that he sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February two this year, at his residence in Dollars Colony here. The 81-year-old leader has denied the charge and said he would fight the case legally.

 

The 54-year-old woman, who had leveled the charge against Yediyurappa, died at a private hospital here last month, due to lung cancer.

In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to the office.Yediyurappa later moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR. ANI/PTI