Karnataka court sends Murugha Matha seer to police custody, stalls hospitalisation bid

It also said the police could provide medical assistance if the seer needed it, and also that he could be shifted to a hospital only if his condition was really serious.

The court also pulled up the police for not informing it before shifting the seer to a hospital from jail. It told the jail authorities to submit the medical reports of the seer, who was brought to court on its insistence. He came in a wheelchair.

The seer, who was arrested on Thursday night, had earlier been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. A few hours later, he complained of severe chest pain and was shifted to a government hospital in Chitradurga early on Friday morning.

Interestingly, sources told South First the hospital had made special arrangements at the emergency ward three days before admitting the seer.

Earlier, speculations were rife that the Lingayat seer, might be shifted to Bengaluru’s Jayadeva or Apollo Hospitals.

Jayadeva Hospitals Director Dr CN Manjunath had told South First, “The deputy commissioner of Chitradurga has announced that the seer would be shifted to Jayadeva Hospitals for further treatment. However, we are yet to receive any official communication on this.”

‘Serious heart problem’

The seer’s advocate Umesh M told reporters outside the government hospital, “Different doctors medically examined him for three hours, and the preliminary diagnosis was that he has a serious heart problem and needs ICU care. He has various other problems and his heart condition is not good. He is not in a condition to speak. He is very tired.”

Meanwhile, Rashmi, who is the second accused in the case, has also been officially arrested.

Rashmi, the warden of the hostel where the minor complainants stayed, had been detained for questioning on Thursday.

Umesh said bail applications for both would be submitted on Sunday or Monday.

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights officials suspected that the seer’s claim of chest pain and illness was a “planned, scripted operation”.

“We don’t really trust the police officials conducting the probe,” an official told South First.

CM Bommai, opposition leader Siddaramaiah react

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, answering questions on the alleged delay in the arrest of the seer, told reporters in Mangaluru that he did not need to respond to any of them.

He said, “I have already said everything will be done according to the law. It is not appropriate to speak now. We’ve given free hand to the police, and they are doing their job”.

Bommai was in Mangaluru to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a day visit to Karnataka.

Leaders of the Congress, who had remained mum over the allegations against the seer, finally broke their silence on Friday. A week after the FIR was filed against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah called for an “impartial investigation”.

The allegations against Chitradurga Muruga Mutt Swamiji is serious.

The police should carry out impartial investigation based on the complaint filed by the girls & reveal the truth.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 2, 2022

Protests in Bengaluru

Despite the late-night arrest of the seer, citizens’ groups and rights activists staged a protest in Bengaluru on Friday demanding justice for the teenage survivors of sexual assault.

“The seer developing these sudden health concerns is a ploy to avoid jail time. Nobody wants to go to jail,” noted advocate BT Venkatesh told reporters during the protest.