Rape case against seer: SC notice to govt over plea for CBI probe

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, issued a notice to the state government on a plea by a 26-year-old woman from Bengaluru for a CBI probe into her complaint of repeated sexual assault by Raghaveshwara Bharati, pontiff of Ramachandrapur Mutt, when she was a minor student.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud sought response from the government as well as the CID, investigating her complaint filed on September 1, 2015.

The court also sought a reply from the Swami and others within six weeks on her writ petition.

The petitioner, represented by senior advocate R Basanth and advocate Rajesh Mahale, contended the pontiff was a powerful person with political connections. She expected no fair investigation from the state machinery due to his influence. She cited discharge of the pontiff in another case due to "faulty investigation".

"Even CID is not free from political interference. From September, 2015, when CID took over the investigation of the case, the investigation officer has been changed many times. Each new investigating officer starts afresh and before he acquaints himself with the records, he is changed again," her petition said.

"The pontiff has staunch following not only among the community of Havyaka Brahmins, but also among 18 other non-Brahminical castes such as Mukhree, Halakki Gouda and Bhandari," she contended.

The woman said when she was barely 15 years of age and a student of Bharati Vidyaniketana, a school run by the management of the Mutt at Hosanagar, Shivamogga, she had been raped by the seer.