DH Exclusive | Medical examination finds no rape in Murugha Mutt case

The medical examination report of two minor girls who accused Murugha Mutt seer Shivamurthy Sharana of rape has concluded that there was no sexual penetration.

This is according to documents submitted to the court that DH has accessed.

The medical examination of the girls was conducted by the Chief Medical Officer of the Chitradurga district hospital in connection with the first case booked against the seer on August 27, 2022 (crime number 0387/2022) at the Chitradurga Rural police station.

One girl was examined on August 28, 2022, and the other on September 29, 2022.

Also Read | Court restricts powers of Murugha mutt seer

The medical officer, who examined both girls, concluded that their hymen was intact.

However, in the statements the girls gave to the counsellors before undergoing medical examination, they said there was repeated sexual penetration by the seer, according to documents.

One of the girls initially refused to undergo a medical examination while swearing at her claim of being sexually penetrated. Later, the girl agreed to be examined, but said there was no penetration, documents show.

Under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, committing “penetrative sexual assault” is liable to life-time imprisonment or a minimum of 20 years in jail. Section 7 of the law deals with non-penetrative physical contact having sexual intention, which is punishable with 3-5 years in jail.

In a related development, the Chitradurga principal district and sessions judge rejected bail on December 7 to a former Murugha Mutt administrator while referring to an audio clip in which an expelled employee “is provoking a girl child to book a case”.

The former administrator is S K Basavarajan, once the MLA of the Chitradurga constituency who managed to secure bail recently from the high court. Basavarajan was arrested in connection with a complaint (crime number 484/2022) filed by Murugha Mutt’s Basavaprabhu Swami, who claimed to be the pontiff’s GPA holder, alleging a conspiracy and submitted audio clips of phone conversations.

There is a second case against Shivamurthy Sharana (crime number 0445/2022) filed by a maid working at the mutt who accused the pontiff of sexually exploiting two of her minor daughters. “I have heard the audio clip that has been produced by the prosecution in another connected case in which it is found that a man is provoking a girl child to book a case and the girl is telling that she is staying in the mutt hostel and her mother is in the mutt. The informant has identified the said person to be accused Basavarajendra and the girl to be the daughter of one maid, working in Dasoha of mutt. The name of the accused/petitioner (Basavarajan) does not figure in the FIR, but there is reference of some other big guys behind the issue who are ready to assist financially for education, marriage, etc,” the judge stated in the order rejecting bail to Basavarajan.

“It is also material to note that, CD makes out that, Gayathri who is another accused (in the second case) cited, has taken police to the house of accused/petitioner and has shown the spot where she allegedly collected money from the wife of accused/petitioner,” the judge stated. “When the allegations are that, for sake of money, the allegations are being made against Shivamurthy Murugha Saharanaru, at this stage, I am of the opinion that the accused/petitioner is not entitled to an order of bail,” the judge added.

According to the girls’ testimony to the police, they were taken to a nonprofit in Mysuru on August 26, 2022, seeking help from Basavarajan’s wife Sowbhagya.

The girls went to Mysuru 31 days after they left the mutt hostel and reached the Cottonpet police station in Bengaluru on the night of July 25, 2022. Basavarajan picked them up from the station the next day. Documents show that Basavarajan claimed to have sent the girls to their parent’s house in Chitradurga. However, the girls said that they were in Basavarajan’s house until they were taken to Mysuru.