CHITRADURGA, DAVANAGERE: Murugha Math seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru on Thursday walked out of jail after 14 months after he was arrested in POCSO cases for allegedly abusing children in a hostel run by the math.
As he came out of jail, he was received by acting seer of the math, Basavaprabhu Swami and a group of devotees with garlands. Immediately after his release, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru headed towards the Shivayogi Mandir in Davanagere.
On Wednesday, the High Court of Karnataka and granted conditional bail to the seer on November 8, but as the order copy was received late, he had to spend another night in jail. On Thursday, his lawyers presented the order copy to the Chitradurga court and to the jail authorities on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday, the government lawyer argued against the seer’s release stating that a body warrant was pending against him in a second POCSO case. The seer, who was on his way to Davanagere, attended the hearing through video conference in the car even as he was travelling.
In Davanagere, the seer was welcomed by devotees with garlands. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru offered prayers at the gadduge of Jayadeva Murugha Rajendra and arrived at the Virakta Math.
He refused to speak on the charges against him and said he would maintain silence and that his lawyers would speak. He also sought everyone’s cooperation.