Murugha math seer’s bail plea adjourned, to come up today

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

 A local court in  Chitraduragaha adjourned the hearing of the anticipatory bail petition of Murugarajendra Swamiji of the Chitradurga Murugha Mutt to Friday. The pontiff of the Mutt has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act apart from the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The swamiji had applied for the bail on Monday. But the charges under the Atrocities Act were added only on Tuesday.

 The Second Additional District and Sessions Court had has issued notices to the prosecution seeking its objections to the bail plea. The prosecution is expected to file their objections on Friday after which the court will take a decision on the bail petition. The police in Chitradurga had earlier this week produced the two victims for recording their statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

 Apart from the Swamiji, a woman warden, an employee of the mutt and an advocate are also accused in the case. It is alleged that the two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the mutt and residing in a hostel run by the mutt, were sexually assaulted between January 2019 and June 2022.

 Apart from the POCSO case and the Prevention of Atrocities case, a case of kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code is also filed against the swamiji.