A court that acquitted former chief pontiff of the Murugha Rajendra Mutt in Karnataka, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, in a Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act case last week noted the lapses in the investigation, including the failure to collect sufficient evidence such as CCTV footage.
Gangadhar Channabasappa Hadapada, the second additional district and sessions judge of Chitradurga, acquitted Shivamurthy, 65; Rashmi, 27, warden of the hostel of a school run by the mutt; and Paramashivaiah, 62, secretary of the mutt’s school, on November 26. They were booked under sections 376 (2) (n), 376 (3), 323, 504, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code—related charges including rape, gang rape, and criminal intimidation—as well as sections 5 (1) and 6 of the Pocso Act.
In August 2022, two minor girls—students of the mutt-run school and residents of its hostel—told members of the Child Welfare Committee that they were sexually assaulted between January 1, 2019, and June 6, 2022. They left the hostel in July 2022.
The case was registered at the Nazarbad police station in Mysuru, and it was transferred to Chitradurga.
The court observed that the prosecution had failed to collect sufficient evidence in the case.
Citing one instance, the court said, “When victims were in Bengaluru, someone had paid the amount of Rs 300 to the auto driver through PhonePe. But in this regard, no investigation was conducted, and no statement was recorded by the police, which is fatal to the case of prosecution.”
The court highlighted that though CCTV cameras were installed in the hostel, the investigating officer (IO) had not seized footage from them. “If the IO had seized the said footage of the CCTV camera, it could have helped the prosecution to prove that the victims entered the room with the accused no. 1 (Shivamurthy) and came out of the room,” it said.
There were 300 students, but the statements of only 12 of them were recorded, the court pointed out, adding that four of the students examined during the trial did not support the prosecution’s case.
‘Evidence not of sterling quality’
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The court also found that the evidence provided by one of the victims was not of “sterling quality”. “Her evidence is not corroborated by the other witnesses. Hence, this court is of the view that prosecution has failed to prove that accused no 2 (Rashmi) abused the victims in filthy language and assaulted the victims… None of the prosecution witnesses have stated anything with regard to the offences alleged against accused no.3. The evidence of the PW-1 (victim) is not cogent, inconsistent and is not believable and trustworthy,” its judgment said.
The court also spoke about the enmity an ex-administrator of the mutt, S K Basavarajan, and his wife Sowbhagya had against Shivamurthy. It said the victims had stayed at the couple’s home for one month.
“They are strangers to the victims. It shows that it is not normal conduct. The normal conduct is that they could have handed over the victims to their parents. But they did not do so,” the judgment read.