Dalit outfits hold protest demanding arrest of Karnataka seer accused of sexual abuse
Chitradurga, Aug 30: Dalit organisations staged a protest here on Tuesday, demanding the immediate arrest of Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the chief pontiff of Murugha Math, who has been booked under the POCSO Act for alleged sexual abuse of high school girls, even as some seers came out in his support.
Meanwhile, the two girls appeared before a local court here to record their statements.
They appeared before the Second JMFC Court, along with some authorities amid security, and their statements were recorded under CrPC 164, official sources said.
Dalit organisations staged a protest here raising slogans demanding justice, and called the seer, a "sexual abuser".
"If some common man is accused in a rape case, police wouldn't have let him out even for a single day, but because this Swamiji is influential, he has still not been arrested. He should have been arrested immediately. No action is being taken against him, he is not even being questioned," District President of 'Dalita Horata Sameeti' Ravi said.
"As (one of) the victim(s) is a Dalit, an atrocity case has also been booked. If he is not arrested immediately Dalit organisations will stage protests across the state," he added.
Meanwhile, several seers claiming to be pontiffs of branch or subordinate maths of Murugha math, coming out in support of their chief pontiff, expressed hope he will come out clean and truth will prevail.
"All the shakha mathadeeshas of Murugha maths, pontiffs of various communities and all devotees are with the seer in his fight. Many senior pontiffs of prominent maths have also expressed their support, truth will prevail," they said.
"Children are like god, we have affection for them, but in this case investigation is happening and truth will come out," one of the seers said, but none of them were in a position to respond when asked how they can have concern for victim girls, when they were coming out in support of the accused. They tried to leave the press conference mid-way.
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru on Monday claimed that the allegations were part of a long-drawn conspiracy against him, indicated an inside job, and vowed to come out clean in the case.
The chief pontiff of one of the Lingayat seminaries in the state, the seer also said he was law-abiding and would cooperate with the investigation.
The Mysuru city police on Saturday filed an FIR against the seer under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and certain sections of the Indian Penal Code for the alleged sexual abuse.
The FIR was registered against a total of five people, including the warden of the monastery's hostel, based on the complaint by an officer of the District Child Protection Unit.
Two girls had approached a non-governmental organisation in Mysuru and narrated the alleged abuse following which it contacted the authorities and the case was registered by the police. It was subsequently shifted to Chitradurga, the place of occurrence of the alleged chime.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Second PUC results: Life convict clears exam with distinction, DGP lauds effort
_vb_63.jpeg)
Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.
Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent.
Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.
In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.
It’s heartening to see that one of our life convict prisoners Ashok has obtained 80.1% marks in PUC exam. He appeared under Prison escort from Ballari Central Prison for his exams.
— alok kumar (@alokkumar6994) April 9, 2026
Glad to see that Walls of the prison has not subdued his hopes for a better future. pic.twitter.com/Nzlcy076SR
He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”
Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.
A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.
