Non-bailable arrest warrant issued against ex-CM Yediyurappa in POCSO case

B S Yediyurappa. FIle Pic

A non-bailable arrest warrant against former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in a POCSO case was issued by a Bengaluru court on Thursday .

As per the PTI report, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case against Yediyurappa, had earlier summoned him for questioning.

He, however, had sought time to appear before the investigation officer of the CID.

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

According to police, 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 accused the poltician of sexually assaulting her daughter during a meeting on February 2 this year. The incidence allegedly took place at his residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru.

On March 14, hours after the Sadashivanagar police registered the case, it was tranferred to the CID for further investigation with immediate effect based on the order of Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan.

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

The 81-year-old Yediyurappa has denied the charge and asserted that he would fight the case legally.

In April, the CID collected the voice sample of Yediyurappa after summoning him to the office.

Meanwhile, the government has appointed Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ashok H. Nayak to represent the CID in the case.

Yediyurappa has moved the court seeking quashing of the FIR.

Nagpur: Man sentences to death under IPC, POCSO Act provisions for raping, killing girl

A Nagpur court on Monday sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl in 2019, reported PTI.

Sanjay Puri (32) was sentenced to death by District Judge and Additional Sessions Judge S R Padwal under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 376(A)(B) of IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said Special Public Prosecutor Prashant Kumar Sathianathan.

The body of the girl was found on December 6, 2019 from a farm plot in Linga village in Kalmeshwar tehsil where she resided with her labourer parents. As per the PTI report, the victim had suffered severe head injuries and a piece of cloth and rod were stuffed into her mouth, while a blood-stained boulder lay nearby.

The police probe revealed she was raped and bludgeoned to death, after which Puri, who worked on the farm as a watchman, was arrested, the SPP said.

A total of 26 witnesses were examined in the case, he said.

The court sentenced Puri to life imprisonment under section 376(2) of the IPC and under section 4 of the POCSO Act, as well as seven years in jail under section 10 of POCSO Act, Sathianathan said.

All the sentences will run concurrently, the SPP informed.