Pontiff charged with rape under POCSO Act in Karnataka, arrested
Tumakuru, Mar 8: Balmanjunath Mahaswamiji of Vidya Chowdeshwari Peeth in Kunigal Taluk of this district has been arrested on charges of rape under POCSO Act following a complaint lodged by a 20-year-old woman with the police.
The victim alleged that the pontiff sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the past five years even when she was a minor.
According to the complaint, she first visited the Mutt along with her father when she was 15. They were looking for cure for their health issues and they performed an "Ashtamangala prasnam". But taking advantage, he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
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Later, he also forced her to attend his video calls wherein he asked her to remove her clothes and "please" him, the complaint alleged.
“Based on a complaint we received from the victim, we registered a case under section 376 (rape), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and other relevant section of the Protection of Children from the Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well as IT Act,” a senior officer said, adding, the pontiff was arrested on Thursday night.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
