Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, a prominent Lingayat mutt seer, was detained on Monday after he was booked for sexually assaulting minors in Karnataka.
The seer, who is the chief pontiff of the prominent Murugha mutt in Karnataka’s Chitradurga, was detained from Haveri district. He is accused of sexually assaulting girl students at the institution run by the mutt.
The Mysuru city police have registered an FIR against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru after a complaint was filed on behalf of two minors. He has been booked under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The two girls studying at the school run by the mutt reached out to ‘Odanadi Seva Samsthe’, an NGO in Mysuru working for the rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and empowerment of trafficked and sexually exploited women and children. After they narrated their ordeal, it was brought to the attention of the district children’s welfare committee.
According to the complaint, the girls, aged 15 and 16, who were staying at the hostel under the Murugha Mutt, were sexually abused for over three-and-a-half-years.
“This is not a problem of just these two girls. The seer has been harassing several other girl students studying at the institution,” Stanley, head of the NGO, Odanadi Seva Samsthe, claimed.
“This has been going on for many years. But it has come to our notice that the children had not disclosed the issue due to fear. We will not bow down to any pressure or threat. It is the duty of the entire society to protect the rights of children. We are committed to this,” he added.