Karnataka Lingayat mutt sex scandal: Seer surrenders before court, sent back to jail

Chitradurga (Karnataka), April 29 (IANS) Prominent Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, who faces charges of sexual exploitation of minor girls, surrendered before a sessions court in Karnataka's Chitradurga on Monday and has been sent back to jail.

The Supreme Court had cancelled his bail recently and directed him to surrender before the court to be taken to judicial custody.

After the surrender, the authorities took the seer into custody and sent him to the district prison after conducting a medical test.

The seer's lawyer Pratap Jogi said that the Supreme Court had given direction for the court hearing the matter to complete the inquiry within four months and that the seer will have to be in prison for a few months.

On April 23, the Supreme Court stayed the order of the Karnataka High Court granting bail to the seer, contending that it would be appropriate to conduct the questioning of witnesses when the accused seer is in judicial custody. It also stated that until the inquiry of the victims and their parents is completed, the seer must be in prison.

The court order came as counsel for victims argued that the seer is highly influential, and even as the charge sheet is submitted, he could influence the witnesses during the trial.

The two minor girls who were studying at the Marugha mutt-run institution had complained about sexual exploitation by the seer to the Nazarabad police on August 26, 2022, and he was arrested on September 1, 2022.

--IANS

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