Chitradurga: Chitradurga police on Thursday arrested Murugha Math Head Seer Shivamurthy Sharanaru on rape charges of two minor girls. The police arrested him on the complaint of two minor girls who made allegations against Seer.

The police filed a case against Seer on August 26^th.  He belongs to a religious leader of powerful Lingayat community was arrested yesterday after massive pressure from the civil society.  He has been named in a case under POCSO Act and under the law protecting Scheduled Castes and Tribes, as one of the survivors belongs to the Dalit community.

The arrest took place around 10.15 pm after daylong protests by the civil society and various organizations across Karnataka’s Chitradurga and Mysuru districts. He was then presented before the Magistrate Court which sent him to 14 day judicial custody. The police took extreme caution in view of law and order issues barricading the front door of the mutt hours before the arrest and taking him out by the back door.

The both girl students of Murugha Math approached a non-governmental organization in Mysuru. The two teens alleged that they were abused for years. Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had publicly backed him, saying the seer has been falsely implicated.

Even if it is delayed, justice has been given to the girls, said advocate Srinivas DC, who is representing them.