Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Pawan Kumar
A day after his arrest, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the chief pontiff of the Murugha Mutt, who was accused of sexually abusing high school girls, has been sent to four-day police custody till 5 September.
Earlier during the day, the doctors who had contemplated shifting him to the Jayadeva Hospital in Bengaluru, eventually took him to a district hospital in Chitradurga and admitted him into an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The seer had complained of chest pain.
Meanwhile, the second accused in the case has been arrested.
"Second accused, Rashmi, arrested in the matter," Chitradurga Superintendent of Police told news agency ANI.
The seer, who is booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, was arrested on Thursday night and sent to 14-day judicial custody in the Chitradurga district jail.
Earlier on Thursday, his anticipatory bail plea was adjourned to 2 September by a local court.
A female hostel warden, who is also an accused in the case, was detained by the police for investigation on Wednesday, news agency ANI reported, citing the police.
Meanwhile, a Chitradurga court granted bail to Janata Dal (Secular) MLA, SK Basavarajan, and his wife Sowbhagya, in connection with the kidnapping of the students who stayed in the Murugha Mutt's hostel. A case had been filed against them after a counter-complaint by the warden.
The followers of Murugha Sharanaru suspect that the couple is behind an alleged conspiracy to malign the mutt and its head.
People protested against the district administration in connection with the case on Wednesday and attempted to stop the district collector's car from moving.
What Is the Case?
It is alleged that the two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the mutt and residing in a hostel also run by it, were sexually abused between January 2019 and June 2022.
Apart from the POCSO and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, cases have also been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against the seer.
The influential seer is charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as one of the two victims was from the SC community.
Apart from the seer, a total of five people are accused in the case. The police in Chitradurga had, earlier this week, produced the two victims for recording their statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Second Additional District and Sessions Court had issued notices to the Child Protection Unit seeking its objections to the bail plea under POCSO earlier this week.
The objections of the police (prosecution) to the bail plea, on the back of the additional allegations under the Atrocities Act, are required now. The prosecution is expected to file their objections on Friday, 2 September, after which the court will take a decision on the bail petition.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)