Lingayat mutt sex scandal: Accused seer denied bail, custody extended
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Sep, 2022 11:30 AM
Chitradurga (Karnataka), Sep 27 (IANS) Denying bail to rape accused Lingayat seer of the Chitradurga Murugha Mutt, a court in Karnataka's Chitradurga district extended the Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru's judicial custody till October 10.
Second Additional Sessions Judge B.K. Komala has also extended the judicial custody of accused number two, hostel warden Rashmi, till October 10.
As the accused seer's judicial custody ended on October 10, he was presented before the court and after its order, he was taken to the Central Jail in the district.
The court had earlier rejected his plea to consider bail on medical grounds and also denied him special permission to have food from the Mutt and conduct worship during the imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders have called a meeting on September 29 to discuss on the accused seer's decision not to step down as the head of the Chitradurga mutt in spite of the serious allegations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The mutt, one of the richest among the Lingayat mutts, has 3,000 branches all across the country and runs more than 150 premier education institutions.
The letter circulated among leaders of the community states that as the accused seer is not coming forward to step down, it would affect the heritage and prestige of the mutt, sources said.
Balkaur Singh, whose son was shot dead in daylight on May 29 close to his Moosa village in Punjab on May 28, had complained of uneasiness on Thursday night following which he was admitted to a private hospital in Patiala from where he was shifted to the PGIMER here.
Majithia told the media here that this was also necessary because the AAP government had neither made the FIR registered in this case public even after 24 hours, nor taken any action against any BJP leader or middlemen involved.
The matter came to the fore after the victim narrated the ordeal to her parents who rescued her and later approached the Women police station at Gurugram's Sector-51 and registered a case against the accused on Wednesday. The victim told the police that she had met Pooja at a Gurugram mall a month ago. Pooja had offered her a job at a doctor's clinic.
The local people and Bishal's family members claimed that he was found with multiple wounds on Wednesday. It is alleged that Bishal was killed for not agreeing to convert to Christianity in order to marry his tribal girlfriend. Though the police are yet to confirm whether the youth was killed or committed suicide, they have arrested five people in connection with the case.
According to a source with the Ministry, the diplomats see it as a question of credibility and said that such tall claims should be avoided as it hurts the credibility of the country and the government too. The source said that it has left the diplomats embarrassed.
During the intervening night of September 13 and 14, on a specific intelligence input, the ICG strategically deployed two fast interceptor class of ships, C-408 and C-454 for patrolling in areas close to the IMBL. During midnight, the Pakistani boat was observed moving suspiciously in Indian waters, 5 nm inside notional IMBL and 40 nm from Jakhau.
