NCW probe into alleged sexual assault by seer begins
The team held day-long discussions with Premalatha at her residence and later met senior police officials.
A team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) is in Bangalore to probe the alleged sexual abuse of well-known singer Premalatha Divakar by Raghaveshwara Bharati Swami, the pontiff of the Sri Ramachandrapura Mutt (Shimoga district).
The team held day-long discussions with Premalatha at her residence and later met senior police officials.
The team, led by NCW member Shamina Shafeeq, advocate Aparna Bhat and social activist Hema Prasanna, is expected to travel to the Mutt and Honnavara town, where the case has been filed. The team refused to speak to the media on the issue.
The seer has been under scrutiny ever since his followers filed a blackmail case against the singer. Earlier this week, the seer obtained an anticipatory bail after the Karnataka High Court vacated an interim stay on the probe into the case by the police.
The drama unfolded during the last week of August when a section of the Mutt employees alleged that Premalatha and her husband, who were in the service of the Mutt for the last 12 years, threatened other artistes against participating in the 'Ramakatha' program.
Two of the Mutt employees had filed separate complaints against Premalatha, one in Bangalore and another in Honnavara, on August 16 and August 17 ,respectively. Consequently, the police arrested the couple from their home in Bangalore.
Within hours, Anshumathi Shastry, Premalatha's daughter, lodged a complaint alleging that her mother was sexually abused by the seer on several occasions over the past few years. The case took a tragic turn with Shyamprasad Shastry, brother of Premalatha's husband Divakar Premalatha Shastry, committing suicide.