On November 28th, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of Chitradurga Murugha Mutt was acquitted of sexual assault of two minors by a trial court in Chitradurga district. The victims, 2 girls aged 15 and 16 escaped from the hostel run by the Mutt and lodged a complaint with the Mysuru Police accusing him of assaulting them for several years. The minor survivors also mentioned that 11 other girls were also being sexually assaulted by Shivamuthy. Soon a second FIR was filed by a young girl aged 12 and her mother accusing the seer of the same. Shivamurthy along with others from the mutt were arrested for offences against the POSCO act on 1st September, 2022. After 14 months in judicial custody and being repeatedly denied bail, he was granted conditional bail by Karnataka High Court in November 2023, and a year later the trial court ordered his release in October 2024. Importantly, Shivamurthy is a respected figure among those in power, before his arrest in 2022, he gave an “istalinga deeksha” to Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi and had many politicians cueing up to meet him, including the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.
This is not the first time an influential figure has been unjustly protected from facing the provisions under the POSCO act. BS Yediyurappa of the BJP and ex-Chief Minister of Karnataka, had a chargesheet filed against him for the sexual assault of a minor. The survivor, a 17-year old girl, came to the politician seeking help for another case of sexual assault that she had faced. The police did not seize any CCTV footage from Yediyurappa’s house, where the incident occurred, there was no recovery of digital evidence or DNA evidence by the police. The Karnataka High Court restrained the Criminal Investigation Department from arresting former CM BS Yediyurappa in connection with the POCSO case. While the trial court took cognisance again on February 28, the High Court stayed the proceedings in March – meaning that the proceedings have been postponed indefinitely. Why is our judicial system so keen on protecting such monsters who prey on children? How many more cases will go unnoticed or how many perpetrators will walk free without facing due punishments? How many victims will be denied justice by the very system meant to protect them?
