The chargesheet the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed against former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in the sexual assault case against a 17-year-old minor girl on Thursday, June 27, alleges that the octagenarian took the victim, who had come to meet him at his residence with her mother seeking help on February 2, 2024, to a room and molested her. When she objected to the same, he gave her some money from his pocket, the chargesheet alleges.
The chargesheet said that the victim, who was a victim of rape when she was 7 years old, had gone seeking help in the probe into that case, when he allegedly called her into a room and locked it from inside. He allegedly asked the victim how old she was when she was raped and whether she remembered the face of the perpetrator and when she responded in the affirmative, he allegedly molested her. The victim reportedly raised an alarm, when he opened the door, after pushing some money into her hands.
The victim’s mother, who was waiting outside the room, reportedly confronted the BJP leader as to why he abused her daughter after her daughter told her what happened inside. The victim had recorded the confrontation on her iPhone, the video of which is now crucial evidence in the case. Mr. Yediyurappa is heard denying he molested the girl through the video, but at one point, he says he “checked” the rape claim, which the chargesheet claimed was an indication of the act. The CID had taken voice samples from the former Chief Minister and the forensic analysis has confirmed the video to be genuine and the voice to be of the leader, the chargesheet says, sources said.
Cover up
The victim’s mother had uploaded the video on her Facebook account, following which advocate Arun Y.M. (second accused) contacted the victim’s mother, convinced her, and brought her to Mr. Yediyurappa’s residence again on February 20, 2024. The chargesheet alleges that on the instructions of Mr. Yediyurappa, M. Rudresh (third accused) and G. Mariswamy (fourth accused) went to the house of the victim, and brought the mother-daughter duo to the former CM’s residence. The chargesheet also alleges that Mr. Yediyurappa was himself present in this meeting and all the four accused forced the victim’s mother to delete the video from her Facebook account and her iPhone and cloud. The chargesheet further alleges that on the instructions of Mr. Yediyurappa, G. Mariswamy gave the victim’s mother ₹2 Lakh in an attempt to buy her silence. However, she filed a complaint with Sadashivnagar Police on March 14.
