Daijiworld Media Network - Chitradurga
Chitradurga, Nov 26: In a major development in a case that had drawn statewide attention, the Chitradurga Second Additional District and Sessions Court on Tuesday acquitted Dr Shivamurthy Muruga Sharanaru of Muruga Math in the POCSO case filed against him. The court declared him not guilty and dismissed the charges.
Sharanaru arrived at the court from Davanagere Virakta Mutt ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict. He was the first accused (A1) in the case, while hostel warden Rashmi and Paramashivayya were named as A2 and A3. Two separate charge sheets had been filed in the first case.
The POCSO case against the seer was registered on August 26, 2022, at Nazarbad police station in Mysuru, based on allegations that he had sexually assaulted minor students of the mutt’s hostel. Two minor girls had lodged complaints in this regard, naming him as the prime accused.
Police arrested Sharanaru in 2022. Later, on October 13, 2022, another complaint was filed at Nazarbad police station by a woman working as a kitchen assistant at the mutt, alleging that he had sexually harassed her minor daughters.