E-Paper
Chitradurga court extends judicial custody of rape-accused Lingayat seer
Sharanaru was arrested on September 1 under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act based on a complaint filed by parents of two girls on August 25 that he sexually assaulted the children
A local court in Chitradurga on Thursday extended till November 8 the judicial custody of Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, who is accused of sexually assaulting at least four girls who used to live in a hostel run by the Jagadguru Murugharajendra Vidyapeetha Mutt — Sharanaru was the pontiff of the influential mutt when he was arrested.
The court also extended the custody of two others accused in the case.
Sharanaru was arrested on September 1 under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act based on a complaint filed by parents of two girls on August 25 that he sexually assaulted the children. The students in the hostel were relocated or sent home in the immediate aftermath of the arrest.
On October 19, police registered another FIR under the Pocso Act against the pontiff based on complaints of two other girls that he sexually assaulted them.
Subsequently, a third FIR was registered against Sharanaru and four others for allegedly keeping abandoned children in an orphanage run by the mutt without following due procedure. The case was filed under section 33 (adoption) and 34 (foster care) of Juvenile Justice Act, and was registered on the basis of a complaint by district child protection unit officer P Lokeshwarappa, following orders from the child welfare committee (CWC).
This is the second extension of custody handed out in the sexual assault case. The first extension was granted by the court on October 21.
During the hearing on Thursday, the police appealed for 8-day custody of the three accused but the court only extended the judicial custody.
In September, the district and sessions court in Chitradurga had pulled up the state police for shifting Sharanaru to a hospital from jail without informing the court and had sent the seer to judicial custody.
The complaint on October 19 against the seer was filed at with the Nazarbad police in Mysuru by the Child Welfare Committee. According to the police, the two survivors, aged 12 and 14 years, were studying in educational institutions run by the mutt. The parents of the girls were working with the mutt, a senior police officer had said.
The mutt is among the most influential religious centres for the politically influential Lingayat community, believed to be the single largest caste group in Karnataka.
