694-page charge sheet filed against Lingayat seer booked under POCSO

PTI, Oct 28, 2022, 11:42 AM IST

Chitradurga: The Chitradurga police submitted a 694-page charge sheet in a district court against the Murugha Math chief pontiff Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru who has been booked for sexually harassing minor girls.

The police submitted the charge sheet before the Additional District and Sessions Judge against the Lingayat seer, the warden of the hostel, and one more accomplice.

The pontiff was arrested on September 1 under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and on rape charges after two girls lodged a complaint in Mysuru with the help of an NGO ‘Odanadi Seva Samsthe.’ The girls, who were staying in the hostel of the Ashram, said the pontiff sexually harassed them.

So far, three FIRs have been registered against the seer. In the third FIR, six people have been named as accused including the pontiff and the warden of the hostel.