FIR against BS Yediyurappa for alleged sexual assault of 17-year-old

Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, police said here on Friday.

The girl’s mother alleged that Yediyurappa sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February 2. Denying the charge, the 81-year-old BJP Parliamentary Board member said he would fight the case legally.

Home Minister G Parameshwara said: “Some people say the woman is mentally sick.”

The complainant alleged that the incident took place on February two when her daughter went with her to meet Yediyurappa at his residence.

Hours after the Sadashivanagar police booked the case under section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan issued an order transferring it to

Crime Investigation Department (CID) for further investigation with immediate effect.

Section 354 (a) (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and section 8 (sexual assault of a minor) of the POCSO Act, which have been invoked against the former CM, are cognizable and non-bailable offences.

The IPC allows up to three years imprisonment or a fine, while POCSO mandates three to five years imprisonment plus a fine.