Karnataka: The Story of Brihan Mutt POCSO Case so Far

Bengaluru: Sowbhagya Basavarajan, wife of former Brihan Mutt secretary, SK Basavarajan, was arrested on Thursday, on charges of conspiracy. Prajavani newspaper reports that she had filed for anticipatory bail, but it was not granted. She was arrested in Davangere. Sowbhagya and her husband, SK Basavarajan, had rescued the two minors (complainants) and taken them to Odanadi Seva Samsthe, an NGO in Mysore. The NGO assisted the girls in filing the POCSO case against Shivamurthy Sharanaru, the former head pontiff at the Brihan Mutt, Chitradurga. The couple is now in police custody.

SK Basavarajan was arrested earlier in November on the allegation that he stole photos of Shivamurthy from the mutt premises. The second accused in the case, Rashmi, had filed a case against SK Basavarajan and his wife, Sowbhagya, alleging that they had kidnapped and illegally detained the two complainants. The two complainants had walked out of the Chitradurga hostel on July 24 and were subsequently found at Cottonpet Police Station, Bengaluru on July 25.

In Rashmi’s statement to the police, she says that she arrived at the police station the next day, only to learn that SK Basavarajan and his wife Sowbhagya had taken custody of the children and taken them to their home, rather than bringing them back to the hostel.

In late October, the Chitradurga police filed a chargesheet in the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) case against the seer of Brihan Mutt, Shivamurthy Sharanaru. He has been denied bail on multiple occasions. As per Bar & Bench, he has been charged with rape (under Indian Penal Code) as well as aggravated penetrative sexual assault (under POCSO). He has also been charged under the SC/ST(prevention of atrocities) Act. Shivamurthy is the first accused, while Rashmi (warden of Akkamadevi hostel) and Basavaditya (a junior pontiff) of the same mutt are the second and third accused in the case. Paramashivaiah (mutt manager) and advocate Gangadharaiah are the other accused in the case. Shivamurthy was arrested on September 1, 2022.

Shivamurthy Sharanaru

In October, fresh allegations were levelled against the pontiff. A former employee of the mutt, a cook, came forward and alleged that Shivamurthy had raped her two minor daughters. The investigation in that case is ongoing.

Old rivalry and intrigue

In his statement to the police, Shivamurthy, 63, has denied all allegations. He has stated that he joined the Murugarajendra Brihan Mutt, Chitradurga in 1976 for religious education. In 1990, he was appointed as the successor of the same mutt by the head pontiff, Mallikarjuna Murugarajendra Mahaswamiji. He also worked in mutts at Haveri and Sirsi. In his statement, he says that the Akkamadevi hostel houses around 100 girls and he doesn’t meet students individually, but in groups. The hostel and his private residence are 300 meters apart.

He, in turn, lays the blame on SK Basavarajan for conspiring against him. Basavarajan was the secretary of the mutt from 1994 to 2007. He was also in-charge of overseeing the mutt’s finances. Shivamurthy alleges that Basavarajan misappropriated mutt funds in 2007 in order to contest for a Legislative Assembly seat. He also alleged that Basavarajan was removed from the mutt in 2007 for buying land for himself using mutt funds and causing a financial loss to the institution. Subsequently, Basavarajan was elected as MLA from the Chitradurga seat, having contested on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket.

There appears to be an old rivalry between the two men. They had previously crossed swords in relation to property disputes and filed cases against each other. Shivamurthy’s submission further states that Basavarajan was reappointed as an administrator of the mutt in March, 2022, on the understanding that he would withdraw all the cases filed against the institution.  

In September, Shivamurthy petitioned the bench to allow him to sign cheques to pay salaries of mutt staff as well as the staff of affiliated institutions. Bar & Bench reported that the court allowed his request even after noting that most of the cheques were addressed to ‘Self’ and involved considerable sums of money. The prosecution had earlier argued that the permission to sign cheques must not be given because there was a possibility of transferring huge amounts of money to himself. He argued that the mutt as well as all affiliated institutions were held by a single trust and that Shivamurthy was the sole trustee.

Community members dump Shivamurthy 

The BJP MLA from Vijayapura, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and the Chief Secretary to ensure a transition of leadership in the mutt. He wrote that Shivamurthy had brought shame to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community and that a new leadership would be required to manage the day-to-day affairs. He requested setting up of a monitoring committee headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge from the Veerashaiva Lingayat community.

He also cited the thousands of employees at the mutt-affiliated institutions whose jobs are in limbo. Asianet News reports that Yatnal referred to the mutt as “a cabal of progressives and naxalites”. He was referring to the recognition given out by Shivamurthy every year to activists fighting for social justice. P Sainath, Medha Patkar, MD Nanjundaswamy, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, Gadar, Shabana Azmi and even Malala Yousufzai were recipients of the annual Basavashree awards. P Sainath announced that he would be returning his award and prize money due to the nature of allegations against Shivamurthy.

A social activist from the Lingayat community, GB Patil, said Shivamurthy did not have a very large following because he was often seen flaunting his wealth. He said that this was a far cry from the Virakta tradition (renunciation) this mutt was supposed to follow. There are two monastic traditions - Gurustala and Virakta. At the Gurustala mutts, the pontiffs can marry. Mutts that follow the Virakta tradition prohibit this and demand renunciation from the people who adopt this way of life.

Patil is of the view that this can be one of the points of reform. Speaking to Newsclick, he said: “What we are seeing now is a symptom of a bigger problem. He belongs to the jangama community (Veerashaiva sub-caste). A jangama is supposed to spread the principles of his religion. But here, jangamas are living in luxury and are the heads of large institutions. They travel in cars. In comparison, Svetambara Jain monks walk from one village to another even in this day and age. Why are these people insisting on living in luxury? We can also relax the prohibition on marriage. Lingayat tradition does not prohibit this. Basavanna himself had married.”

Noted writer, Shivasundar, echoed the words of Patil. He said the mutt culture in Karnataka was quite unique. “Mutts here are corporate bodies of caste. If you can win over the heads of mutts, you will win over the devotees who pray here. That is the equation (for elections). There are mutts for each sub-caste of Lingayat devotees. Political leaders favour certain mutts and shower crores of rupees on them for the same reason. However, this case seems to be related to the internal politics within this mutt. At one time, SK Basavarajan was poised to take over as pontiff, but he gave up that option when he chose to get married. This mutt has a Virakta tradition, but he (shivamurthy) has accumulated possessions.”