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Chitradurga court orders release of Muruga Mutt seer accused in Pocso case
A court in Chitradurga ordered the release of Muruga Mutt seer, who has been in custody since September 2022 in connection with a Pocso case.
A court in Chitradurga on Wednesday ordered the release of Muruga Mutt seer who has been in judicial custody since September 2022, in connection with a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) case.
While ordering the release of the seer, Shivamurthy Muruga Sharana, the second additional district and sessions court adjourned the hearing on the government advocate’s plea seeking to convert the body warrant against Sharana in another Pocso case into a judicial arrest.
Sharana was granted a bail by the Karnataka high court on November 8 in a case involving sexual assault against two minor girls studying in an educational institute run by the mutt. Seeking fulfilment of the bail conditions, Sharana’s counsel, Sandeep Patil, approached the sessions court. After verifying the security guarantee, judge BK Komala ordered his release.
Nevertheless, the legal dispute escalated as Sharana’s lawyers challenged the court’s decision to convert the body warrant into a judicial arrest warrant in the second Pocso case. This led to heated arguments in the courtroom, setting the stage for an anticipated hearing on November 16.
“In the second case, Sharana cannot be kept in jail as he has not been arrested. If the court order reaches the jail by evening, Sharana is expected to be released on the same day in connection with the first case,” said Sharana’s advocate Sandeep Patil to reporters.
However, the prosecution advocate, Jagadish, countered this, asserting that the body warrant hearing in the second Pocso case against Murugha Sharana is pending. Therefore, he argued, Sharana cannot be released from jail, and should remain under the body warrant until the next court session. Jagadish added that an order regarding Sharana’s case would be issued after the upcoming argument and appealed to prison authorities not to release Sharana until the hearing is over, said an officer privy to the court argument.
The Karnataka high court had granted bail to Sharana on November 8 in connection with a POCSO case registered against him.
The case began on August 26, 2022, when two girls filed a complaint at the Nazarbad Police Station in Mysuru accusing Muruga Sharan of sexual assault. Subsequently, Sharan was taken into custody on September 1, 2022, and had remained under judicial custody in Chitradurga Jail until the recent bail decision.
Sharanaru, who heads the Jagadguru Murugarajendra Vidyapeetha Mutt, was arrested late on September 1 2022 after days of intense public pressure. He is accused of raping two girls, 15 and 16 years old, between 2019 and 2022, and was booked by the police for rape under the POCSO Act 2012 on August 25.
Another first information report (FIR) was registered against him on October 19 2022 night alleging sexual assault of minor girls. This case accused him of assaulting minor girls living in the hostel run by the ashram.
