POCSO Act case filed against Harihara Panchamasali Gurupeetha ex-pontiff for sexually harassing boy
Davanagere: A POCSO Act case has been registered against Vachanananda Swami of Harihara Veerashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali Gurupeetha under charge of sexual harassment of a boy, following his dethroning as pontiff of the Mutt.
The Zero FIR, which had been filed at the Lakshmeshwara Police Station in Gadag district, has been handed over to the Harihara Rural Police Station under whose jurisdiction the place of crime is located. The investigation team from the Harihara Rural Police Station has taken the taken statement of the complainant.
The mother of the boy had complained to the Lakshmeshwara Police that the seer often used to get her son, who studied at the Mutt, to give him a massage. Harihara Police, who are currently probing the matter, will take the boy’s statement, Superintendent of Police Dr. HT Shekhar has said.
The seer was dethroned as pontiff of the Mutt recently, after a complaint of sexual harassment of the boy was filed against him. The dethroning also brought the matter of sexual harassment to public knowledge.
District Children’s Welfare Committee officers visited the Gurupeetha and collected statements of various people, including that of the seer.
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Karnataka Muslim Convention to be held in Bengaluru on May 16
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Rajya Muslim Sanghatanegala Okkoota has announced that a state-level ‘Karnataka Muslim Convention’ will be held on May 16 at Town Hall in Bengaluru to draw the Karnataka government’s attention to issues concerning the welfare of the Muslim community.
The organisers said a detailed report titled “What did the Congress government promise? What has it done? What next?” will be released during the convention.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Club in Bengaluru on Wednesday, one of the convention coordinators, Suhail Ahmed Maroor, said the report would review not only the Congress government’s three-year performance but also examine ten major issues on which promises were made to the Muslim community.
He said the report would assess how many of those promises were fulfilled, which commitments remain pending, concerns over political representation, and the demands that the community intends to place before the government.
Maroor said the convention would bring together leaders of community organisations from different parts of the state, senior ulemas, jamaat leaders, lawyers, retired officials, journalists and activists.
The report is expected to cover issues such as the hijab ban, reservation rollback, hate speech and hate crimes, budget allocations, political representation, waqf matters, the anti-cow slaughter law, anti-conversion law, scholarships and educational grants.
Speaking at the press conference, Welfare of Humanity Foundation president Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Husain Nadwi said no politicians would be invited to the convention.
He said the objective of the event was not to create confrontation with any political party, but to seek answers on what the Congress government has done for the development of the Muslim community.
Maulana Khari Zulfiqar Raza Noori of Bilal Masjid said the convention was not intended to target or criticise any individual. However, he said that despite the Muslim community, numbering over one crore in Karnataka, extending strong support to the Congress, the government had failed to provide adequate justice to the community.
Other coordinators, including Tanveer Ahmed and Yahya Damudi, along with ulemas and social activists, were also present at the press conference.
