Bengaluru court summons Yediyurappa to appear on July 15

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Thursday summoned former chief minister BS Yediyurappa to appear before the court on July 15 in connection with a case filed against him under the POCSO Act.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had filed charges against the BJP politician in cases under the POCSO Act before the Fast Track Court 1 here on June 27.

A day later, the Karnataka High Court extended its interim order restraining the CID from arresting Yediyurappa after allowing the prosecution to file an objection to the petition filed by him seeking quashing of the FIR against him, and then adjourned another hearing for two weeks.

The CID, which is charging Yediyurappa with sexual abuse of a minor girl, says in the chargesheet that he and three other accused paid money to the alleged victim and her mother to buy their silence.

Yediyurappa, 81, has been charged under Section 8 (punishment for sexual abuse) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and sections 354A (sexual molestation), 204 (destruction of documents or electronic records to prevent their production as evidence) and 214 (offering gift or return of property in return for verification of offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The other three co-accused – Arun YM, Rudresh M and G Mariswamy, who are associates of Yediyurappa – are charged under Sections 204 and 214 of the Indian Penal Code in the chargesheet.

The case was registered on March 14 this year on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that Yediyurappa sexually abused her daughter during a meeting on February 2 at his residence in Dollars Colony.

Yediyurappa was interrogated by the CID for over three hours on June 17.

The mother of the 54-year-old victim, who had filed the case against Yediyurappa, died of lung cancer in a private hospital in May.

Yediyurappa denied the allegations and said he would contest the case legally.