Amid fast flying rumours of his arrest on Monday, August 29, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the chief pontiff of the Jagadguru Murugharajendra Vidyapeetha Math, said that he respected the law of the land and he was cooperating with the police and was not running away. The seer, who has been booked in a POCSO case, was allegedly stopped by the police in Bankapura and asked to return to Chitradurga. A prominent Lingayat seer, Shivamurthy has been accused of sexually assaulting girl students, aged 15 and 16, who were staying at the math’s residential facility.
Addressing the large crowd of devotees gathered at the math on Monday afternoon, Shivamurthy said that he was not going to run and expressed his confidence that he was going to be cleared of all charges. “This is not the first time we have faced problems. It has been happening for the last 15 years. Earlier, all these issues were fought internally, but now this matter has been raised outside the math. I request people not to fall for any rumours. We are giving all cooperation and I am sure I will come out of this,” he said.
“The math operates within the law. We created a community of students and we look after them. There is a way to look after them. People come to us with faith and we respect the law. No one is running away, we respect the law of the land,” he said, adding, “There is a logical end to things, we must separate fact from fiction.”
The seer was stopped by the Chitradurga police from Bankapura in Karnataka, while he was on his way to Maharashtra, his lawyer has claimed. A large crowd had gathered at the Jagadguru Murugharajendra Vidyapeetha Math, and police personnel were deployed to the spot to disperse the crowd and avoid untoward incidents. As crowds started surrounding the math, police presence was also increased to deal with the crowd. According to reports, the Hubballi, Belagavi and Haveri police were working in coordination to track down Shivamurthy.
As confusion reigned in mid-morning at the math premises about whether the seer had been arrested, math lawyers present there, said that the seer had merely gone to Haveri to attend a religious programme and he was returning to the math soon. They clarified that the seer had not been arrested.
The development comes two days after a sexual assault complaint was filed against the seer. In the complaint, the survivors had alleged that Shivamurthy sexually assaulted one of them for three and a half years, and the other for one and a half years. The complaint added that the seer would call the girls to his chambers on some pretext and sexually assault them.
The girls had approached the Child Welfare Committee in Mysuru and narrated their ordeal in detail, based on which officials approached the Nazarbad police station in Mysuru and filed a complaint on their behalf. While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has promised action in the case, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa dismissed the charges as false.
On Monday, August 29, senior Karnataka leader and BJP MP Lehar Singh Siroya demanded strict action against the Lingayat seer. Calling it an extremely shocking and sad development, he said, “Each time something like this happens, it shakes our confidence in our own surroundings, and in our own people. As a society, we owe it to ourselves that these allegations are probed thoroughly and impartially. The Karnataka government and all political parties have to ensure that there are no pulls, pressures, politics and interference in this case. The girls deserve nothing but justice.” He added that if need be, the case should be transferred outside Karnataka.
Speaking about the case on Sunday, August 28, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters that the police have complete freedom to investigate the case. However, former CM BS Yediyurappa has denied the allegations of rape against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, claiming that they are “completely false” and that it was a conspiracy against the prominent seer.
Shivakumar Sharanaru is an influential spiritual leader among the Lingayat community, and with elections in Karnataka due in 2023, leaders have been trying to woo the community. Last month, the seer was visited by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on whom he conferred the ‘Ishtalinga Deekshe.’