“It is the duty of police to arrest BS Yediyurappa now,” said S Balan, the advocate representing the survivor who was allegedly sexually assaulted by senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Balan said this after a Bengaluru fast-track court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant in the case against Yediyurappa on Thursday, June 13. 

The court’s order came in response to the plea filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after Yediyurappa failed to appear before them despite sending him a notice. The CID notice was sent to Yediyurappa on June 12, two days after Balan filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking his arrest. 

Yediyurappa has been accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his house in Bengaluru’s Sanjaynagar on February 2. 

A POCSO case was registered against Yediyurappa on March 14, after the girl’s mother filed a complaint at the Sadashivanagar police station. Yediyurappa allegedly assaulted the 17-year-old  girl when she and her mother approached Yediyurappa at his residence seeking help because the minor had been previously sexually assaulted. In the FIR, the mother had alleged that Yediyurappa assaulted the child in a room at his residence. 

On May 26, the mother passed away suddenly at 53 years of age, after being taken to Nano Hospital for breathing difficulties. Following her death, the family’s advocate had demanded a post mortem, terming the death “suspicious”.