BENGALURU: After the Karnataka High Court halted the arrest of the state’s former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl, the advocate of the victim, S Balan, said that there is no “relief” for the BJP leader as bail has not been granted.
S Balan said, “I don’t think he got any relief, only the arrest has been put on hold and the bail is not granted. His plea was to stay the investigation but the court did not accept that and he has been directed to appear before jurisdictional police on June 17… He is being put on the right track to unearth his activities. So, there is no relief to him.”
On Friday, the Karnataka HC issued an order stating that coercive proceedings of arrest and detention will be kept on hold until the next date of hearing. The order of the Karnataka HC follows a letter from the petitioner (Yediyurappa) volunteering to appear before police on June 17.
Balan further said that the former Chief Minister will have to cooperate. “The incident took place in his house, there were several CCTV cameras which recorded the presence of the victim and her mother… Taking her into a private room and restraining her mother from going into the room.”
“CCTV footage is yet to be retrieved… The DNA material is not collected. He has to cooperate, he has to give his sample for DNA profile matching… The conviction will happen,” Balan added further.
Declining any political intervention in the case, Balan said, “I never met anyone from the government, police or anybody else. It’s purely a private case, there is no nexus with any government agency…”
Earlier on Thursday, a local court in Bengaluru issued a non-bailable warrant against the former Karnataka CM, directing his immediate arrest in connection with sexual assault against a minor girl.
In March, the mother of the victim filed a complaint against the former Chief Minister at the Sadashivanagar police station in Bengaluru, alleging that the latter had sexually assaulted her daughter. In this regard, the brother of the victim filed a petition against Yediyurappa in court under the POCSO Act, which deals with sexual assault cases against minors. (ANI)