Bengaluru: Two significant developments were reported on Monday, July 1 in the case of sexual assault charges levelled by a female Ramakatha vocalist against Shri Raghaveshwara Swamiji of Hosanagara Math.
On the one hand, the supreme court took up the higher appeal filed by the advocates of the Swamiji against the FIR framed by the CID police of Karnataka in 2014 and adjourned the hearing for six weeks.
The division bench with Justices Jagdish Singh Kehar and Adarsh Kumar Goel took up the appeal, without serving any notice to the respondent.
The Swamiji had earlier sought cancellation of the FIR in the Karnataka high court which subsequently rejected the petition. On the other hand, a team of CID visited Puttur and the Mani branch of the Math, where the sexual assault is said to have taken place.
During the Ramakatha discourse in Puttur in the past, the Swamiji had camped in the premises of a reputable jewellery shop. Vocalist Premalata had alleged that the Swamiji had sexually abused her there also, besides in the Math precincts. The organizers and volunteers at the time of Swamji’s camps in Puttur and Mani were to be examined by the CID.
The CID team had brought Premalata and her husband with them. She is said to have given graphic details of the spots in Puttur and Mani where she was sexually assaulted, said sources at the Math.
Sources at Samana Manaska Havyaka Vedike, which has been demanding justice to the aggrieved woman and restoration of sanctity to the religious chair and the Math, said that the timing of the appeal in the supreme court was significant, coming as it does soon after the CID team’s visit to Puttur.
Case history:
How come this man is not behind the bars? Is our legal system is a joke? The victim and her husband were held in custody for a few weeks while Police didn’t even bother to question this guy for several weeks. How can anyone take our Police and legal system seriously? No wonder – people prefer to settle things with an instant delivery of justice (public beatings) even before informing Police. Another sign of third-world country!!