Complainant in POCSO case was mentally ill, habitual accuser: BS Yediyurappa to Karnataka High Court

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa told the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday that the woman who had made a sexual assault complaint against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was a “habitual complainant” and that she suffered from mental health illness..Senior Advocate CV Nagesh, who appeared for Yediyurappa, told Justice M Nagaprasanna that the Court must take the complainant’s statement “with a pinch of salt.”“She (complainant) was a notorious lady. She had 56 cases against her. She used to accuse everyone and file complaints against the DGP, the Leader of Opposition, her own son, her husband, against anybody. The evidence is that she was a mentally retarded person. The complaint (in the present case) was registered at 10 PM. Why I am making these submissions is so that the Court knows to take her statements with a pinch of salt,” Nagesh said..Nagesh made the submissions while arguing a petition filed by Yediyurappa seeking quashing of the sexual assault case filed against him.The Senior Advocate further claimed that the case deserved to be quashed since the magistrate had taken cognisance and issued summons in the case without any application mind. He also said that the investigation was complete and the chargesheet in the case had already been filed.“The 164 statement is not there before the court. Medical report is not there but still the magistrate has taken cognisance and perused the documents. What has he perused? Therefore, this order of cognisance and issuance of summons is a mechanical one without proper application of judicial mind,” Nagesh argued..Appearing for the State, Senior Advocate Ravivarma Kumar urged the Court to vacate the interim protection granted to Yediyurappa exempting him from appearing in person before the trial court.The Court will hear further arguments on the quashing plea on December 12..The case pertains to allegations made by a woman that Yediyurappa molested her 17-year-old daughter when she accompanied her mother on a visit to the senior BJP leader's residence to seek some help.The girl’s mother, now deceased, had lodged a police complaint on March 14 accusing Yediyurappa of having sexually harassed the girl. She also said in her complaint that the former Chief Minister had tried to hush up the issue by offering her money.Based on such complaint, the police registered a first information report (FIR) under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Section 354(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of sexual harassment of a minor.In May this year, the complainant woman had died at a private hospital in Bengaluru.