Published Sep 05, 2022 | 4:52 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2022 | 4:56 PM
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru. (South First)
Rape-accused Murugha Matha chief pontiff Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was produced before the Second District and Sessions Court of Chitradurga on Monday, 5 September, after his five-day police custody ended.
The seer was remanded to judicial custody for nine days by Judge Komala — until September 14.
The court also adjourned the hearing of the bail petition of the accused seer to 7 September. The bail petition has been filed on medical grounds. The court has also directed the prosecution to file objections for his bail petitions before 7 September.
Soon after the hearing, the seer was whisked away amid tight police security, to be lodged at the Chitradurga District Prison.
The Chitradurga rural police also deployed additional forces for the security of the three-century-old Murugha Matha premises in the district.
Meanwhile, police sources told South First that a team of cops — a part of the investigating team — detained the third accused, a junior pontiff, from Hospet in the Vijayanagara district.
The junior pontiff, who was on the run, is a juvenile under conflict of the law, and had sought asylum at a devotee’s house in Hospet when he was picked up by the police.
However, investigating officer DySP Anil Kumar told South First that the junior pontiff had not been detained as they do not know where he is, and also confirmed that they do not have information that the accused pontiff was an adult.
However, matha members claimed that he was a juvenile. “Only after his arrest and examining his documents will we get to know of his exact age,” Kumar maintained.
The police team also arrested the hostel warden Rashmi, the second accused in the rape case, and is on the lookout for two other accused: local leader Paramashivaiah and lawyer Gangadaraiah.
The three accused are said to have aided the sexual assault of the two minor girls at the matha.
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was arrested by the police on 1 September, and while he was produced before the court for the first time, the seer was seen weeping and pleaded that it was a huge conspiracy to bring him down.
He was almost on the verge of collapsing when he was made to stand in the accused box in the court while deposing before the judge.
The seer then complained of chest pain and sought to be admitted to a hospital, but his demands were turned down.
His further demands — having Satvik food brought to jail from his matha and conducting “Istalinga” puja in his cell — were also denied by the court.
However, on Monday, the seer remained calm and composed when he was produced before the court for a second time.
He remained silent and police sources maintained that he was “not cooperating” with them on certain questions posed to him.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) by serving notices to the District Commissioner, Superintendent of Police and also the Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department.
The commission observed that neither the police nor the administration took any action against the seer — who was seen addressing public gatherings as usual — even seven days after the complaint.
