Woman who filed POCSO case against Yediyurappa dies

The mother of a minor girl who lodged a POCSO case against former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa died in a hospital in Bengaluru soon after admission on Sunday night.

The 45-year-old was said to have been admitted to a private hospital near Hulimavu with respiratory problems. Her oxygen saturation level was low and she was put on a ventilator.

Police sources said she collapsed and died. A post-mortem will be conducted, the police said. On March 14 night, the woman filed a case with the Sadashivanagar police station against Yediyurappa, 81, alleging sexual assault on her daughter.

The FIR stated that on February 2, when the woman and her minor daughter visited Yediyurappa to seek his help regarding a fraud case, her daughter was sexually assaulted.

The police registered a case under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 (POCSO) and Indian Penal Code section 354A against Yediyurappa for alleged sexual assault.

Home Minister G Parameshwara handed over the investigation to the CID. The CID collected Yediyurappa's voice sample to compare it with the voice in a video provided by the girl's mother. Meanwhile, the woman urged the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka to entrust the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of a retired judge.

In her letter, she claimed that the CID was violating the law and protecting Yediyurappa. She alleged that he had not been arrested and that the CID had destroyed evidence related to previous cases.

She requested the CID hand over the case to the CBI.