Published Sep 02, 2022 | 10:19 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 03, 2022 | 11:37 AM
Veteran journalist P Sainath returns Basavashree award over Murugha Matha sexual abuse case. (Creative Commons)
The founder-editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) network Palagummi Sainath returned the Basavashree award conferred to him in 2017 by the Chitradurga-based Murugha Matha after its chief pontiff was arrested over allegations of sexual abuse of minor girls who were living in a hostel run by the matha.
Sainath, a noted journalist, also returned the ₹5 lakh prize money that came along with the award, in an act of solidarity with the survivors.
The Murugha Matha chief pontiff, seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, was arrested late on Thursday night by the Chitradurga Police, having been booked under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse (POCSO) Act.
He was on Friday sent to police custody for four days.
After initial reports, South First called Sainath to verify the news of him returning the award.
“It is completely true that I have decided to return the award,” Sainath told South First.
In a statement he shared, the veteran journalist said, “I am most disturbed to learn from media reports of the appalling developments involving the pontiff of the Shri Murughamath in Chitradurga, Shri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru. He now faces a case and charges under the POCSO and SC/ST act for alleged sexual abuse of children, specifically high school girls. No words are strong enough to condemn any such offences against children. [sic]”
1/5. I am most disturbed to learn from media reports of the appalling developments involving the pontiff of the Shri Murughamath in Chitradurga, Shri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru. He now faces a case and charges under the POCSO and SC/ST act.#MurughaMutt
— P. Sainath (@PSainath_org) September 2, 2022
While appealing to the Karnataka government for a comprehensive investigation that should not be compromised on any grounds, Sainath said, “I would like to record my appreciation of the efforts of the Mysuru-based NGO ‘OdaNadi’ to bring the awful incidents to light and their decades-long fight against social evils.”
The Odanadi Seva Samsthe, an NGO engaged that rescues and rehabilitates sexually-exploited women and children in Mysuru, appeared before the Mysuru district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on 26 August where it alleged sexual harassment by the seer with the assistance of the hostel warden and three others.
On Friday, the bench of the Chitradurga District Sessions Court hearing the Chitradurga Police’s plea for five-day custody of the Murugha Matha seer stalled his hospitalisation bid after he complained of chest pain.
Instead, the court gave the police four-day custody of the seer and asked the cops to present the seer before it on 6 September.
Meanwhile, protests were held in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park demanding justice for victims, with activists calling the rape-accused seer’s hospitalisation a charade.
