The Karnataka High Court has granted conditional bail on Wednesday, November 8, to the rape accused Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of the famous Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district in connection with the rape of a minor. In August, 2022, the seer, who is the chief pontiff of the Lingayat mutt, was accused of sexually assaulting girl students who reside at the institution. A police complaint was filed on behalf of two survivors, who are 15 and 16 years old.
The High Court Bench headed by Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar had restrained the accused seer from entering the premises of the mutt and also directed him to surrender his passport to the court. He has also been asked to provide two sureties. The court also stated that he should appear before it through video conferencing. However, sources say that despite the bail order, the release of the seer is doubtful as he is also accused in another minor rape case.
The bail petitions of the seer in these cases are still pending before the court.
The seer is facing charges under various sections of the IPC including sections 376(2)(n), 376 (3), 376 (DA) section 5 (l) read with section 6 of the Pocso Act, Atrocity Act, Juvenile Justice Act and Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act. He was arrested after a high drama on September 1, 2022 and he has been lodged in jail since then.
According to reports, it was argued on behalf of the seer that the medical examination of the two survivors indicating that there was no sexual assault. Activists helping the children have however maintained that the medical report need not always establish rape, and the statements of the children make the situation clear.
The court is also reported to have observed that statements given under section 161 (before the police) of the CrPC and section 164 (before the magistrate) raise several doubts. The court noted that the two victims had named 8 other girls who had allegedly been assaulted by the see, but those girls had no such complaints to make. According to Deccan Herald, the court is reported to have observed that, “The statements of those girls are available in the records. If those statements are perused none of the girls named by girls A and B have complained of being sexually abused by accused No 1. In contrast, their statements are that accused number 1 used to treat them well and teach English and Sanskrit once a week”.