E-Paper
Seer found dead at Lingayat Mutt in Karnataka’s Belagavi
The seer’s attendants found his body after they forced open the door of his room when their calls went unanswered
A 28-year-old seer was found dead in his room at a Lingayat Mutt at Neginhal in Karnataka’s Belagavi district on Monday morning, police said and added they have recovered his purported suicide note. An investigation into the cause of the seer’s death has begun even as the contents of the note were not immediately known.
The seer’s attendants found his body after they forced open the door of his room when their calls went unanswered. People aware of the matter said the seer was reportedly upset over a video in which two women were purportedly heard discussing alleged cases of sexual assault at some Karnataka mutts.
He apparently told his followers recently that he was upset that his name appeared in an audio clip in which two women had reportedly spoken about “the character” of some seers and their alleged illicit relationships.
The 28-year-old was found dead days after Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the head seer of an influential Lingayat mutt in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, was arrested on Thursday last for allegedly sexually abusing two girls.
Sharanaru was arrested following protests over alleged police inaction for close to a week since the sexual assault case was registered against the head seer of Jagadguru Murugarajendra Vidyapeetha Mutt. He was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly sexually exploiting two girls studying in his mutt’s schools.
The Lingayat community is politically influential and believed to be the single largest group in Karnataka.
