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Karnataka seer arrested in POCSO case after furore
The arrest came amid widespread protests over alleged police inaction for close to a week since a sexual assault case was registered against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru.
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The Karnataka police on Thursday night arrested the head seer of an influential Lingayat mutt in Chitradurga district in connection with sexual abuse allegations levelled against him by two minor girls, officers said.
The arrest came amid widespread protests over alleged police inaction for close to a week since a sexual assault case was registered against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the head seer of Jagadguru Murugarajendra Vidyapeetha Mutt in Chitradurga, with a group of advocates writing to the high court claiming the investigation “is not being carried out in an unbiased, free and fair manner”.
The head seer has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly sexually exploiting two girls studying in schools being operated by the mutt and living in its hostel.
“Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, accused of sexually assaulting minors, arrested,” Alok Kumar, additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Karnataka, said. “The due procedure will be followed. Medical tests and investigation will be done as per the procedure.”
The seer was taken into custody from the mutt, Kumar said, adding that he will be produced before the court on Friday. “We will seek his police custody,” the officer said.
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The arrest came on a day when a court in Chitradurga adjourned to Friday hearing of the bail plea by Shivamurthy in the sexual assault case. The pontiff, who had applied for anticipato
ry 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.
As soon as the proceedings started at 11 am, Second District and Sessions Judge BK Komal asked advocates of other cases to leave the court hall. Making submissions on the behalf of the victims, who were present in the court, advocate Srinivas sought a day to file objections to the bail plea. The court agreed and posted the matter to Friday.
Earlier in the day, police issued a look out circular (LOC) against the head seer. “A look out notice is issued if the police suspect that someone would flee and the police want to keep all ports alert,” said a senior IPS officer, who is supervising the case. “This is just a precautionary measure as part of the investigation.”
When asked if the pontiff was at a “flight risk”, the officer who did not wish to be named refused to answer.
On Monday, the pontiff was stopped at Bankapura in Haveri district by the Chitradurga police from travelling to Maharashtra on a suspicion that he was trying to flee. A police officer familiar with the development said after enquiring with the seer about his travel, he was asked to return to his home district.
Later in the day, the pontiff addressed his followers and reporters at the mutt, saying: “I am not going to run away but will respect the law of the land. I will come out clean from the allegations and let the case reach its logical end.”
“This is not the first time that there has been a conspiracy against the mutt but it has been there for the last 15 years. These conspiracies stayed within the mutt but now have come out,” the seer had said while hinting at an inside job to frame him in the case of sexual abuse of high school girls.
A first information report (FIR) was registered on August 27 against the head seer of the mutt, which is among the most influential religious centres for the politically influential Lingayat community, believed to be the single largest caste group in Karnataka.
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Alleging police inaction in the case, a group of advocates wrote a letter to the registrar general of the high court. “He (the pontiff) has not even been summoned for investigation or his medical examination conducted,” the letter claimed. “These lacunae in the investigation show that there is already prejudice caused on part of the investigation.”
On Thursday, the mutt’s administrative officer SK Basavarajan, who is facing allegations that he had a role in the two minor girls levelling the sexual abuse charges against the seer, said he was “not involved in any conspiracy” against the pontiff and he has done his duty by trying to protect the children.
Basavarajan, a former legislator, and his wife Soubhagya were granted bail by the first additional district and sessions judge in a case of sexual harassment and kidnapping registered against them on a complaint by a woman warden, Akkamahadevi Rashmi, of a hostel run by the mutt. He also said the case against him and his wife was “completely false” and a “counter” to cases filed against the seer and four others.
“I only protected children. After coming to know that the minor girls are in Bengaluru, my wife, son and I went there and tried to bring back the girls to Chitradurga Mutt. But they refused to stay and later they were sent with their family members,” Basavarajan said. “The minor victims were in a bad condition and I gave them shelter. If the minor girls are truthful they will get justice, if they are not, they will be exposed.”
On Thursday, the police questioned warden Rashmi, who is also named in the FIR registered by the Chitradurga along with the head seer and three others, said Chitradurga superintendent of police K Parashurama. “A female warden of the hostel who filed a complaint against SK Basavarajan has been detained by police for more investigation. She is the second accused in the Pocso case filed against seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru,” the SP added.
Two girls, aged 16 and 15, were taken to a Mysuru-based NGO by Basavarajan. After they spoke with the counsellors at the NGO, on August 26 they were taken to the Child Welfare Committee.
They reportedly told the committee members that they were sexually assaulted between January 1, 2019, and June 6, 2022. The girls were students of a school run by the mutt in Chitradurga and lived in a hostel there. They left the mutt hostel in July this year. Based on their complaint, the FIR was registered with Mysuru police, which was later transferred to Chitradurga. HT has accessed a copy of the FIR.
The two girls recorded their statement before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on Monday.
On Sunday, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said the investigation was on in the case while refusing to make any other comments regarding the allegations against the pontiff. Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, however, had backed Shivamurthy Sharanaru claiming the charges against the seer were false. “It is a false charge. There is no truth in it and after the completion of the investigation, he will come out clean,” said the senior BJP leader.
Both Bommai and Yediyurappa are from the Lingayat community.
