JOIN USWoman lodges sexual harassment case against seer
The Banashankari police on Wednesday registered a case of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against Ramachandrapura Mutt seer Raghaveshwara Bharati and his disciples.
Following a complaint lodged by Anshumathi Shastri, the daughter of Diwakara Shastry and Premalatha, residents of Banashankari in Bangalore, the police registered a case against the seer and others under IPC Sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Premalatha is one of the performers in Ramakatha, a group dance based on mythology, for the last three years, organised by the seer. Diwakara Shastry was closely associated with the Mutt’s administration.
Anshumathi stated in the complaint that her mother Premalatha had said that the seer and his disciples had sexually harassed her. When her family members were contemplating to lodge a complaint against them, the seer’s disciples learnt about their intentions, called up Premalatha and threatened her against lodging a complaint. However, the family members were determined to lodge complaints against the seer and his disciples.
To put them in trouble, the seer’s disciples lodged ‘false’ complaint against Premalatha and Diwakara Shastry with the Honnavar police. A team of Honnavar police thus took Diwakara Shastry and Premalatha into custody, claiming that they would produce them before the local court, Anshumathi said in the complaint.
She stated that she and her sister were in the house and were getting threat calls from the seer’s disciples, she added and sought police protection.
“The police consulted legal experts and then registered cases against the seer and his disciples. The police have directed the complainant to provide documents to prove her allegations,” a senior police officer told Deccan Herald.
The Honnavar police arrested Diwakara Shastry and Premalatha for blackmailing the seer to tarnish his image, based on a complaint lodged by R Chandrashekhar. The couple were produced before the local court. The judge remanded them in judicial custody for one day. The hearing will continue on Thursday.
In the complaint, Chandrashekhar stated that Diwakara and Premalatha called up the seer on the phone and demanded Rs three crore from him. They threatened to tarnish his image if he failed to pay them the money.
They also threatened of lodging a sexual harassment complaint against him and disclose everything to the media, he added in the complaint. He claimed that Diwakar demanded a prominent position in the Mutt’s administration and a lead role for Premalatha in the upcoming Ramakatha event.