The anticipatory bail plea of Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the chief pontiff of Murugha Math, booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for alleged sexual abuse of high school girls, was adjourned to September 2, by a local court here on Thursday.

The pontiff, who had applied for anticipatory bail on Monday, was additionally charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday as one of the two victims was from the SC community.

The Second Additional District and Sessions Court had already issued notices to the Child Protection Unit seeking its objections to the bail plea under POCSO.

The objections of the police (prosecution) to the bail plea on the back of the additional allegations under the Atrocities Act is also required now. The prosecution is expected to file their objections on Friday after which the court will take a decision on the bail petition.

The police in Chitradurga had earlier this week produced the two victims for recording their statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Apart from the seer, a total of five people, including the warden of the monastery's hostel, are accused in the case.

It is alleged that the two girls, aged 15 and 16, studying in a school run by the math and residing in a hostel, also run by the monastery, were sexually abused between January 2019 and June 2022.

Apart from the POCSO and the Prevention of Atrocities Act, cases have also been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against the seer.