NEW DELHI: The Karnataka police on Thursday arrested the chief pontiff of Sri Murugha Mutt, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, in a sexual abuse case
It is alleged that two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the mutt and residing in a hostel were sexually abused by the Lingayat seer between January 2019 and June 2022.
The seer was booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act last month.
The pontiff, who had applied for anticipatory bail on Monday, was additionally charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday as one of the two victims was from the SC community.
Apart from the seer, four others, including the warden of the monastery’s hostel, are accused in the case.
(With inputs from agencies)
It is alleged that two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the mutt and residing in a hostel were sexually abused by the Lingayat seer between January 2019 and June 2022.
The seer was booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act last month.
The pontiff, who had applied for anticipatory bail on Monday, was additionally charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday as one of the two victims was from the SC community.
Apart from the seer, four others, including the warden of the monastery’s hostel, are accused in the case.
(With inputs from agencies)