Karnataka Muruga Mutt Case: Junior Pontiff taken into custody, 3 held so far

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Bengaluru, Sep 05, 2022: Another accused in the Murugha Mutt sexual abuse case has been taken into custody by police. The junior pontiff of Murugha Mutt was picked up from Hosapete city of Karnataka on Sunday, making the third arrest in the case.

 

The Mysuru-based NGO ‘Odanadi Seva Samsthe’ has demanded a CBI probe into the case of sexual abuse allegations against the chief pontiff of Murugha Math, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru. The 64-year-old has been remanded to police custody till September 5 by a local court.

Sharanaru has been booked under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly sexually abusing two girls, studying in a school run by the Math and staying in a hostel also belonging to it.

• The NGO told media that death threats are “casual” whenever it files complaint against anyone. “The issue of the children is important and this threat letter should not become a diversion. We have written to the police after receiving threat calls,” Parashuram from the NGO told Hindustan Times. “Whenever we complain against anybody, we get such calls. It comes in a casual manner — the same way you (media) also get it when you report some sensitive news.”

• The NGO ‘Odanadi’, which helped two girls register the case, claimed to have received death threats from the mutt. In its complaint to the police on September 3, NGO Odanadi Seva Samsthe claimed its members received death threats from followers of the seer.

• The pontiff was subjected to potency and DNA tests, sources in the medical department told PTI. “He underwent the potency test on Saturday. We also took samples of his blood and hair for DNA test,” a medical officer said. The officer refused to disclose the outcome saying that such things cannot be shared with media but will be presented to the court, which is hearing the case.

• Sharanaru, who is accused of sexually harassing minor high-school girls, underwent various medical tests at the Chitradurga district hospital on Saturday, sources said. The police brought him to the district hospital under tight security from a Deputy Superintendent of Police’s office where he is being questioned.

•The warden of Murugha Mutt hostel was nabbed by police on September 2, making it the second arrest in the case.

• Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Friday said that investigations into the POCSO case against the chief pontiff of Murugha Math, Shivamurthy Sharanaru, will be conducted according to the law of the land and there will be “no government interference” in any way. The police are free to conduct investigations, he said.