Bengaluru mutt head arrested over sexual exploitation allegations

G K Mithun Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) for Bengaluru’s North East Division, said Dayananda was arrested on Monday morning

A 40-year-old head of a religious mutt on the outskirts of Bengaluru has been arrested after a 25 year old woman accused him of sexually exploiting her and threatening to kill her, police said.

Dayananda, 40, also known as Nanjeshwara Shivacharya Swamy, heads the Hunasamaranahalli Mutt.

G K Mithun Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) for Bengaluru’s North East Division, said Dayananda was arrested on Monday morning. He was produced him before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

The arrest was made after the North East Division Women’s Police Station registered a case on the woman’s complaint. “The victim gave audio and video recordings of herself with the accused, and we are verifying them,” he added.

Police said the woman lives near the mutt and had known Dayananda for about three years. She accused him of sexually exploiting her and subsequently threatening her.

Kumar said the woman alleged that Dayananda had been harassing her for about a year and had threatened her life. He said the case had been registered under sections 69 (sexual intercourse by deceitful means), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)

The Hunasamaranahalli Mutt is associated with Srisailam Mutt, one of the five prominent religious centres of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community collectively known as the Pancha Peethas.

These institutions occupy an important place in the community’s religious life. The Hunasamaranahalli institution is also reported to have extensive land holdings.

Arun Dev is an Assistant Editor with the Karnataka bureau of Hindustan Times. A journalist for over 10 years, he has written extensively on crime and politics.