694-pages charge sheet against Murugha Mutt seer exposes dark facets

CHITRADURGA: The Chitradurga police have filed a 694-page chargesheet against Murugha Mutt seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru last week before the 2nd Additional District and Sessions Court here.

The chargesheet has some shocking revelations. The Murugha Mutt seer has been accused of summoning the mutt’s children through the warden and sexually assaulting them by giving them drug-laced apples. The seer allegedly took the children forcefully to the office room, bedroom or bathroom and raped them. They were threatened with their lives, those who were opposed.

More than ten children have allegedly been sexual assaulted in similar fashion. The report says a girl was raped and murdered a few years ago in the mutt. A police team had gone to Andhra Pradesh for gathering information in the case, the chargesheet mentions.

Murugha Mutt seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru.

Quoting one of the victims, the chargesheet says the hostel warden Rashmi used to lure the girl by giving her an apple to meet the seer and sent her through the rear door of the hostel to avoid the CCTV cameras. One day, when the girl entered the seer’s rest room, he was drinking alcohol and gave her an apple. She fell unconscious after eating it. When the girl woke up, there were no clothes on her.

After three months, she had a similar experience. The told her to take off her dress and when she refused, he threatened with her a knife. He again sexually assaulted her this year for the third time. “This time, the accused gave a chocolate to the victim. The warden always encouraged and forced hostel girls to do such things, the chargesheet quotes the victim as saying.

Murugha Mutt hostel warden Rashmi.

The charge sheet names the Murugha Mutt seer, hostel warden Rashmi, mutt secretary Paramashivaiah, and the successor of the mutt, Basavaditya. But there is no information about the involvement of lawyer Gangadharaiah. Police sources said that the investigation in this regard is ongoing. The sources added that the police are questioning more hostel inmates.

Shivamurthy Sharanaru was arrested on September 1 under POCSO Act on the charges of rape, after a complaint was filed by two girls, who were staying in a hostel run by the mutt. They had reached Mysuru somehow and approached Odanadi, an NGO, with the help of which they lodged at complaint in Mysuru. The case was later transferred to Chitradurga.

The seer is facing two POCSO cases, and also under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act.