Rape-accused Karnataka Lingayat seer sent to four-day police custody

Shivamurthy Muruga Sharnaru, the Lingayat seer from Karnataka who was arrested in a rape case, was sent to four-day police custody on Friday. The head priest of Chitradurga’s Muruga Mutt was arrested on Thursday for allegedly sexually abusing minor girls.

Earlier today, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was shifted to Bengaluru after developing some fitness complications in the detention center on Friday. The seer reportedly complained of chest ache in the penal complex following which an electrocardiogram and other medical tests had been conducted at the Chitradurga district hospital, the place he was taken to. Two coronary heart experts had been also known from neighboring Davangere.

Last week, two women, aged 14 and 16, who studied at a Muraghrajendra Mot faculty in Chitradurga and lived in its hostel, accused the seer of sexual harassment for the past three years. Based on the complaint, an FIR was lodged under the stringent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. This was followed by a combined two recorded statements before a magistrate and a medical examination of the victims.