A prominent seer of the Lingayat community was on Monday prevented from leaving the Chitradurga district of Karnataka as police stopped his motorcade, allegedly heading out of the district following complaints of sexual abuse lodged by two minor inmates of his ashram in the district.
Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the chief pontiff of the Sri Murugha Math, has been accused of child sexual abuse after two minor girls lodged police complaints. The FIR also names Rashmi, warden of the residential wing of the Murugha Math, junior priest Basavaditya, lawyer Gangadarayya and activist Parasivayya for aiding and abetting the crime.
His supporters immediately rebutted allegations that the seer was trying to escape to Maharashtra. “He had only gone to meet a lawyer in Belgaum and there is no truth in reports that he has been arrested. He has now returned to the Math,” BJP Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra, son of B.S. Yediyurappa, told reporters in Shimoga.
The seer had personally provided Linga Deekshe to Rahul Gandhi on August 3 when the Congress leader called on him while he was in Chitradurga. The Linga Deekshe is an initiation into the teachings of Lord Basaveshwara, the 12th-century reformer-saint who founded Lingayat as a religion in a major departure from caste-ridden Hinduism.
The seer has been booked under various penal sections and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act after two girls aged 15 and 16 recently lodged complaints against him and four others.
The survivors who are inmates of the Murugha Math’s residential facility for students have accused the seer of sexually abusing them for three-and-a-half years and one-and-a-half years, respectively, at his chamber. The girls have been moved to the district child welfare home in Chitradurga after the mandatory medical examinations, the details of which have not yet been revealed since the investigation is at an early stage.
The seer, who addressed his followers at the Math on Monday morning, said he was ready to face the law and prove his innocence. “Devotees must not panic. The Math has been facing some problems over the last 15 years. Now the internal issues have become public….We respect the law of the land and will extend all cooperation to the police,” he said.
Yediyurappa, the most influential politician from the Lingayat community, rallied behind the seer and termed the allegation false. “It’s part of a larger conspiracy to sully the image of the seer. Those who know Murugha Math and the seer can never make such allegations. I am sure he will come out clean,” he said.
