Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act over allegations of sexually harassing a teen.

The police in Bengaluru’s Sadashivanagar charged the senior BJP leader based on a complaint by the mother of the 17-year-old girl.

According to sources in the police, the girl has alleged that she was assaulted on February 2 when she and her mother visited the 81-year-old leader to seek assistance in a cheating case.

According to the FIR, the BJP leader allegedly sexually assaulted the girl after calling her into a room.

Addressing the media, Mr Yediyurappa questioned the timing of the complaint, coming just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha election. “I helped the complainant financially. The timing is questionable since the FIR comes just ahead of the polls,” he said.

The former Chief Minister claimed the girl came to him seeking help with some cases of cheating. However, she didn’t speak to him properly which gave him the idea that she may not be mentally sound, he said.

Mr Yediyurappa’s office has rubbished the allegations as baseless, accusing the mother and daughter of filing over 50 complaints in the past. A list put out by Mr Yediyurappa’s office showed 53 different complaints filed before.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “A lady gave a complaint to the Sadashivanagar police station against BS Yediyurappa, our former Chief Minister, saying that her daughter was molested. So the police registered the case and an investigation is on. Until and unless we know the truth, we cannot reveal anything. This is a very sensitive matter because it involves a former Chief Minister. Let’s see what the report says”.

The minister ruled out any political angle in the case and said, “I don’t think there’s a political angle to this. We don’t know the lady. She went to the police and complained. The police didn’t refuse her and registered the case.”

BS Yediyurappa served as Karnataka Chief Minister in 2007 and later from 2008 to 2011. He was chief minister again for three days in May 2018, and then from July 2019 to July 2021.