Lingayat mutt seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, accused in the alleged sexual abuse of minor girls, was arrested by Chitradurga police on Thursday night, The Indian Express reported. The chief pontiff of the Jagadguru Murugharajendra Vidyapeetha in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district has been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The development comes a week after an FIR was registered against him for the alleged sexual assault of the two minor girls between 2019 and 2022 who were residing in the mutt’s hostel.
Confirming the seer’s arrest, Chitradurga SP Parashurama K told IE, “We have arrested the seer and procedures will follow. He is being questioned now.”
The pontiff was taken into custody from the mutt at around 10 pm on Thursday after he had met his devotees, Indian Express reported citing police sources. Later, he was taken to the deputy Superintendent of Police’s office.
The arrest comes after protests by several organisations as well as citizens over the government’s inaction against the seer. Several Dalit organisations also came out in protest demanding his arrest after it came out that one of the girls was a Dalit, The Hindu reported.
On Thursday, Murugha had applied for anticipatory bail with a sessions court adjourning the hearing to Friday.
On August 26, Mysuru police had booked him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) Act and Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), that relates to rape. Charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were also added.
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The girls, after reaching Mysuru, had earlier approached an NGO who works on human trafficking, and it later approached the state Child Welfare Committee (CWC), who filed the police complaint.
In their complaint, the girls alleged that the potiff would call them to his chambers on some pretext and then sexually abuse them. One girl alleged that the seer assaulted her for the past three-and-a-half years and the other for the past one-and-a-half years.
On Wednesday, a female hostel warden, who is also an accused in the case, was detained by police for investigation on Wednesday, ANI reported.
Meanwhile, a Chitradurga court granted bail to Janata Dal (Secular) MLA, SK Basavarajan, and his wife Sowbhagya, in connection with the kidnapping of the students residing in the seminary hostel. The case was filed following a counter complaint by the hostel’s warden.
The mutt is politically influential as it is frequently visited by political leaders. Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and current Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai hails from the Lingayat community. Meanwhile, Yediyurappa has dismissed the allegations against the seer calling them a “conspiracy”.
“The investigation will reveal that he is innocent. The investigations will also reveal people involved in framing the seer,” the former CM had said.
Recently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also received ‘Ishtalinga Deekshe’ from seer Murugha.