Bengaluru: Pontiff held for raping minor for seven years, aide held for making clips

The pontiff of Hangarahalli Vidya Chowdeshwari Mutt in Kunigal town was arrested on Thursday night for sexually harassing a minor girl since 2017, said police

Bengaluru: The pontiff of Hangarahalli Vidya Chowdeshwari Mutt in Kunigal town was arrested on Thursday night for sexually harassing a minor girl since 2017, said police. His personal assistant was also arrested for making explicit videos of the priest and blackmailing him.

Police have identified them as 35-year-old pontiff, Balamanjunatha Swami, and assistant Abhishek. (Representational image)

Police have identified them as 35-year-old pontiff, Balamanjunatha Swami, and assistant Abhishek.

Police said, on February 10 this year, the priest filed a complaint with Tumakuru cyber police alleging that his personal assistant and five others secretly took explicit videos of him and have been trying to extort money from him by blackmailing him over the videos. He said, he was taking treatment for skin disease from a woman doctor and the six persons had shot videos of him while getting treated.

Based on the complaint, the police booked the six people for extortion and blackmailing, besides sections of the IT Act.

However, while questioning Abhishek, police said they found that the priest had been sexually harassing the doctor for the past few years. They also found out that the priest had also been raping a devotee, now 20 years old, from the past eight years on the premises of the mutt.

“We recorded the statements of the survivors. One of them told the police that he raped her on several occasions over the past seven years. She was a minor then,” said Huliyuru Durga police inspector N Prashanth Kumar, adding that a case was registered against the priest under sections of Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocsco) Act.

On Thursday night, a police team led by Tumakuru superintendent of police (SP) KV Ashok arrested the priest from the mutt.

“We have arrested the pontiff and produced him before the JMFC court in Kunigal on Friday which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. We are investigating whether the priest was involved in other sexual harassment cases,” added the SP.