Pocso case victim moves Karnataka High Court against Murugha Mutt seer’s acquittal

The case was filed in August 2022 under sections of the Pocso as well as Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to rape, gang-rape, and criminal intimidation after the two minor girls—students of the mutt-run school and residents of its hostel—told members of the Child Welfare Committee that they were sexually assaulted between January 1, 2019, and June 6, 2022. They left the hostel in July 2022.

The current appeal before the Karnataka High Court calls for the judgment and order of acquittal to be set aside.

The order of acquittal had raised several issues with regard to the evidence submitted by the prosecution. One of the points was that while the victims were present in Bengaluru after the incident of sexual assault allegedly occurred, a payment to an auto driver via an app had not been investigated. Another issue raised by the judge was the fact that CCTV footage at the hostel had not been taken by the investigating officer, which might have proved the presence of the seer in a room with the victims.

The acquittal order also pointed to the lack of “sterling quality” evidence by the victim, as well as 300 other students of the hostel. The trial court stated that only 12 out of 300 students had their statements recorded, with four of them contradicting the prosecution’s case.

Apart from the evidence of one of the victims being “inconsistent”, the trial court had said that there was insufficient proof of verbal abuse and assault by one of the co-accused staff members. In contrast, the case against the other staff member was not supported by witness statements, the court had observed.

The court had also asked the victims why they had stayed with a former mutt administrator for a month after the alleged assault instead of their parents. “The normal conduct is that they could have handed over the victims to their parents,” it said.