Police in Karnataka, a state in southern India, have arrested a prominent Hindu religious leader on charges that he raped two young schoolgirls. Accusations of sexual assault against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, a member of the Lingayat community (the state’s major Hindu sect), have surfaced at his seminary.
Six days after a complaint was filed against him, which provoked protests across the state, he was arrested on Thursday night. In response to the accusations, Sharanaru has claimed that they are the result of a plot. BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi in Bangalore says that he was brought before a judge on Friday at 2:45 am local time and remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.
The 64-year-old psychic was arrested and charged with sexual assault under POCSO. Since one of the survivors identified herself as a Dalit (a member of the lowest caste in India), the authorities have also charged him under the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Atrocities Act.
There are many Lingayatas in Karnataka since they are middle-caste people who make up 17 percent of the state’s population. They have tremendous clout and hold sway in state politics, as most of the state’s chief ministers have come from within this group.
There are almost 2,000 influential mutts (monastic establishments) in the Lingayat community in the state. In Chitradurga, Sharanaru is in charge of the Murugha Mutt. It controls around 150 churches and schools spread out over the state.
On August 26, two women, both of whom were students at the seminary, went to a non-profit organization in Mysore city and accused him of sexually abusing them over a long period. The girls claimed in their complaint that Sharanaru would repeatedly sexually abuse them after summoning them to his chambers.
There were demonstrations in Chitradurga and other regions after the charges surfaced, with protesters demanding the religious leader be arrested immediately.
Several people, including former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, have come out in defense of the seer, saying that he is being “falsely implicated.”
“It will turn out that he is innocent after the investigation is over. As the investigations progress, they will also uncover the identities of those who framed the seer “Expressing to the press, he said.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
