New Delhi: The chief pontiff of Sri Murugha Mutt, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, an accused in an alleged sexual assault case involving minor girls has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of high school girls, as reported by news agency PTI. "The due procedure will be followed. Medical test and investigation will be done as per the procedure. He will also be produced before judge," said Alok Kumar, ADGP, Law and Order Karnataka.
Shivamurthy is the chief of a prominent Lingayat Mutt in Chitradurga, Karnataka. Amid protests demanding Shivamurthy's arrest, the Karnataka Police on Thursday detained the chief warden of a school hostel run by the Math in a sexual harassment case.
Meanwhile, a local court in Chitradurga adjourned till Friday the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea of Shivamurthy in a sexual harassment case. A case has been filed against him under the Protection of Child Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
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Earlier, a group of advocates has written to the Registrar General of the Karnataka High Court claiming that the investigation against the accused seer "is not being carried out in an unbiased, free and fair manner." "He (the seer) has not even been summoned for investigation or his medical examination conducted. These lacunas in the investigation show that there is already prejudice caused on part of the investigation," the letter claimed.
Shivamurthy had applied for anticipatory bail on Monday, but additional charges were also added on Tuesday against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as one of the two victims belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. The Second Additional District and Sessions Court had earlier issued a notice to the Child Protection Unit regarding objections to the bail plea under the POCSO Act.
The Chitradurga police had earlier this week produced two victims for recording their statements under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Besides Shivamurthy, five more persons are accused in the case, including a warden of the hostel.
It is alleged that two girls aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by Mutt and residing in the hostel, were sexually harassed from January 2019 to June 2022. A case has been registered against Mahant under various sections of the Indian Penal Code besides POCSO and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.