The News Minute | September 10, 2104 | 7.06 pm ISTRaghaveshwara Bharati Swami of the Ramachandrapura Mutt in Karnataka on Wednesday challenged the authorities to arrest him in the case of rape filed against him by a Bangalore woman.His remarks come on the concluding day of the Chaturmasa fast, which the seer has been observing for the last two months in the Raghuttama Mutt in Kekkaru, Uttara Kannada district. Since the FIR was filed against him, this is the first time that the seer has spoken about it. Addressing his followers at the Raghuttama Mutt, he said: “I have a question for those who come to arrest me, will you arrest the sentiments of thousands of people? Do you have jails to imprison lakhs of hearts? Do you have such shackles?“Do what you have to do, but remember that those who come to arrest me would have been in that department for 10-20 years, but this peetha has a history of a thousand years.” He made more remarks along similar lines. He said that if these allegations were true, “no truth would remain in the world”.“I have tread the path of Rama, not Ravana,” he added. Gag orderThe Hindu reported that based on a plea by the seer, the Honnavar JMFC court restrained 35 media firms from publishing stories that a defamatory to the seer. The court granted a temporary injunction.The case On August 17, a man named Chandrashekar filed a complaint with the Honnavar (Uttara Kannada district) police, alleging that someone had been making threatening calls, warning against the organization of the Ramakatha at the Mutt in Honnavar. On August 27, the police arrested Premalatha Divakar and her husband Divakar Shastry. The couple has sought bail, but the case has been adjourned several times. The couple’s daughter Anshumati however, filed a complaint against the seer accusing the seer of harassing and abusing her mother Premalatha. In the complaint she alleged that the seer had filed the FIR with the Honnavar police when he found out that her mother had decided to lodge a complaint about the harassment with the police. Read: A tale of threats and harassment, cases and counter-cases at the Ramachandrapura MuttOn September 1, Divakar’s brother Shyamprasad Shastry who lives in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, committed suicide claiming that he was being harassed by the local Havyaka Samaja. (The Havyaka community is a Brahmin sub-caste). Speaking to The News Minute, his childhood friend Sundara Gowda said that he left a note alleging that the Havya Samaja had decided to boycott him and his family because his brother had filed a complaint against the seer. He committed suicide allegedly because he was unable to bear the pressure. His family approached Puttur MLA Shakuntala Shetty of the ruling Congress government alleging that the Havyaka Samaja had decided to boycott the family because of Anshumati’s complaint against the seer.Raghaveshwara Bharati had approaching the Karnataka High Court seeking the quashing of the complaint against him, but the court refused to do so. The seer had also sought a stay order against investigations. On Tuesday, the High Court permitted the police to continue its investigation against the seer, saying that the charges against the seer had been booked under Section 376 2f of the Indian Penal Code. It also said that there was a need to investigate the complaints of threats and blackmail made by the seer.