In fresh trouble for former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the state police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed a chargesheet naming him and three others in a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The BJP leader is accused of touching a 17-year-old girl inappropriately when she and her mother went to meet him at his house earlier this year to seek his help in a case of an assault on her in 2015. The survivor’s mother had filed a case under POCSO in March. 

After the mother died of cancer in May, the brother of the survivor approached the Karnataka High Court and complained that there had been no progress in the investigation.

Mr Yediyurappa had also approached the high court, which allowed the CID to question him but granted him protection from arrest. 

The CID questioned the 81-year-old earlier this month and then filed the chargesheet in a Bengaluru court on Thursday. The three others named in the document have been accused of destroying evidence. They had allegedly tried to convince the mother and daughter to delete evidence. 

Rubbishing the allegations against him, Mr Yediyurappa had said, “I am not complaining to anyone. Time will decide everything. People know what the truth is. Those who are engaging in trickery, the people will teach them a lesson.” 

A popular travel influencer and YouTuber has been found dead at his home just hours after he was arrested as part of a child pornography probe in Argentina. According to the New York Post, Leonel Esteban Borroni’s body was found by a relative at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on May 17. He was found hanging from a skylight with his hands and legs bound with plastic ties. Police suspect that he took his own life, but are awaiting autopsy results.

The travel influencer was known by his social media username “Un Leon Viajero” which means “A Lion Traveller” in English. He had 164,000 followers on Instagram where he posted photos of motorbike trips to places like Ecuador, Venezuela and French Guiana.

Notably, he had been arrested following the alleged discovery of child pornography on his electronic devices. He was released on bail just hours after appearing before a judge as part of an ongoing investigation into human trafficking and sexual abuse. 

The influencer is believed to have refused to answer questions about the child porn allegedly found.

The case came to light after the Argentinian authorities received a tip-off from a US-based agency specialising in combating child exploitation. Another five men and a woman, aged between 20 and 50, have also been implicated in the investigation.

His last post on Instagram was two weeks ago when he shared a picture of himself on the back of a motorbike and bid “goodbye” to some of his followers. He wrote, “What a beautiful moment I am living Laions, saying goodbye to some social media and entering others.”

He’d earlier posted: “In these eight years of touring places I never thought I would reach I achieved my travelling goal, I am happy for all that I could shoot, and above all for having health and support of the Laions, I hope the universe helps me to enjoy it all I walked from another place with more comfort, I deserve it. Thank you.”

Kochi:

The establishment of a dedicated police unit to combat online child sexual exploitation in Kerala serves as a model that should be replicated at the international level, Robert Leventhal, chief, Global Policy and Programs Division, US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said on Saturday.

Addressing a session on tackling online facilitated child sexual abuse and exploitation at cOcOn, an international hacking and cybersecurity conference organised by the Kerala Police in Kochi, Mr Leventhal said complementing awareness raising and robust enforcement is a powerful tool to deter online abuse and promote justice for victims.

He urged the stakeholders to modernise and strengthen international standards to counter and prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse.

“Online child sexual exploitation and abuse is such an important issue, and the most vulnerable among us deserve our best efforts to protect them,” he said, adding that cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes are significant and growing threats to the national and economic security of our individual countries.

He said estimates predict that the cost of global cybercrime will grow by 15 per cent per year over the next five years, reaching $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

“The Kerala Police Department’s work to develop a dedicated police unit countering online child sexual exploitation in the state is a wonderful example of what we need to see more of on a global scale,” he added during his address.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday inaugurated the 16th edition of the International Cyber Security and Policing Conference, cOcOn, here. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thiruvananthapuram:

Of the total number of child abuse cases reported in Kerala in 2022, most of the offences took place at the residence of the survivors itself, according to a report compiled by the state child rights panel.

The startling figures, which appeared in the recent report, indicated that their homes were not safer for the survivors.

According to the annual report of Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights for 2022-23, of the total 4,582 cases reported in the southern state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act during 2022, the survivors’ homes were the places of the crime in 1,004 incidents.

In 722 cases, the houses of the accused were the places where the crime occurred, while it was various public places in 648 cases.

When the places of occurrence of the offence were analysed in 4,582 POCSO cases reported, it was found that the children were subjected to abuse in their own home in 1004 cases, it said.

Children were also subjected to molestation in schools (133 cases), in vehicles (102 cases), hotels/lodges (99 cases), religious institutions (60 cases), hospitals (29 cases), and so on.

There were a total of 4642 survivors in the 4582 POCSO cases reported in the state last year.

“This indicates that there is more than one survivor in many cases. Under this circumstance, children should be given awareness about POCSO laws and child-friendly procedures,” the report added.

Out of the total cases reported, most were from Thiruvananthapuram (583), while a smaller number were reported from Pathanamthitta (189).

Of the total 4,642 survivors, 4008 were girls and 578 were boys, the report said, adding that the figures indicate that girls were more subjected to sexual assault.

Among the accused, 16 per cent were lovers, 12 per cent neighbours, 9 per cent were family members, 8 per cent were relatives, and 3 per cent were teachers.

The majority of survivors were found to belong to the age group of 15-18 years (2563 children).

There were 55 survivors who belonged to the age group of 0–4 years.

The child panel report also found that 93 per cent of the accused in the POCSO cases were men, while two per cent were women.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)