Child Rape; Karnataka Lingayat seer arrested

The chief pontiff of a Lingayat mutt in Karnataka’s Chitradurga named Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru has been arrested on child rape after being accused for six days. He was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) for allegedly sexually assaulting minor girls, has been arrested by the Karnataka Police.

Earlier in the day, the cops had detained the mutt hostel warden, Rashmi, in connection with the rape case.
The case was registered against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru by the Mysuru city police after a complaint was filed on behalf of two minors.

According to the complaint, two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying at the school run by the mutt, were sexually abused for over three-and-a-half years by the seer. The pontiff was also charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as one of the survivors is a Dalit girl.