Shivamurthy Murugha was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court after being arrested late Thursday night.
Rape accused Murugha Mutt seer Shivamurthy arrested in sexual assault case
The 64-year-old seer, booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, and Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was arrested at 10.20pm from his mutt by Chitradurga police. The arrest came following a growing clamour and protests by Dalit organisations. One of the two survivors is from the Schedule Caste community.
On August 26, Shivamurthy Swami and four others were booked under Pocso Act and IPC section 376 for rape at Nazarbad police station in Mysuru. Th ecase was later transferred to Chitradurga police.
It is alleged that the girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the mutt and residing in a hostel also run by the monastery, were sexually abused between January 2019 and June 2022.
District police invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Act) against the pontiff as one victim is from the SC community.