Karnataka seer rape case: NGO Odanadi founders seek police protection

Days after the head seer of a prominent Lingayat math in Karnataka was arrested in a POCSO case, Mysuru NGO Odanadi Seva Samsthe has written to the police seeking protection. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru has been accused of allegedly sexually assaulting minors residing at the Chitradurga math. On August 26, two girls had escaped from the math and approached Odanadi and lodged a police complaint against Shivamurthy.

In a letter to Mysuru Commissioner Dr Chandragupta on Saturday, September 3, Stanly KA — founder director of Odanadi — wrote that devotees and supporters of the math have called the NGO several times and expressed their displeasure at Shivamurthy’s arrest. Fearing threat to their lives, the letter asks for police protection for Stanly as well as Parashuram ML, the founder-president of Odanadi, and their families. “Since Odanadi is an institution meant for girl children, we have a responsibility to keep them and the staff members safe,” the letter said, seeking provision of a security system and gunman facilities.

Two girls — aged 15 and 16 — who were staying and studying at the Chitradurga math had alleged that Shivamurthy sexually assaulted them for years. He allegedly sexually assaulted one of them for 3.5 years, and the other for 1.5 years. The two girls had approached Odanadi, after which they were taken to the Child Welfare Committee and made to record their statements there. As there was a case prima facie, they filed a police complaint against Shivamurthy, based on which a First Information Report was registered charging the seer under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Six days later, on September 1, the Chitradurga police arrested Shivamurthy. This was days after the survivors recorded their statements before a judicial magistrate, which is considered a key piece of evidence. Sources had told TNM that despite his political connections, it had become untenable for the police to delay Shivamurthy’s arrest as the girls had stuck to their allegations.

However, the night of his arrest, the seer purportedly developed chest pain and was shifted to a hospital in Chitradurga from the jail. The following day, a District and Sessions court remanded Shivamurthy to three days of judicial custody.