Seer denied bail in sexual abuse case

BENGALURU: The second Additional District and Sessions Court, Chitradurga, on Friday rejected bail plea of Dr Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the pontiff of Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga. The seer is accused of sexual abuse of two minors girls who were inmates of a hostel run by the mutt and currently he is in judicial custody. The seer is one among the prominent religious leaders of the state.

The seer (64) has been booked under the Prevention Children against Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The complaint was lodged on August 26 this year and the arrest was made on September 1.

Two minor girls, aged 15 and 16 years, managed to escape from the hostel a month before they lodged a police compliant. The girls contacted Odanadi, a Mysuru-based NGO. After listening to the girls, the NGO members were convinced that the girls were allegedly abused. A police complaint was lodged at the Nazarbad police station in Mysuru and the case was transferred to the Chitradurga police.