Murugha Mutt pontiff Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana, the prime accused in the sexual abuse case, returned to the mutt on Monday and addressed the people gathered on the mutt premises for the first time after the sexual abuse case was registered against him.
He said that this was a time of crisis and he was prepared to face it with courage. "Devotees need not panic over these developments. These problems had been there in the mutt over the last 15 years. But now they have become public," he added.
He further stated, "We respect law of the land and we will extend complete cooperation to police in this regard. There is no question of escaping from it. People need not consider such rumours. This mutt has functioned as a mobile court and we would cooperate with the police for the probe. "
Calling it the 'most unfortunate situation', he said that he was 'confident' of coming out clean. The seer also thanked the devotees for standing by his side during such a hard time.
As soon as the seer arrived at the mutt from Haveri, devotees raised slogans in favour of the seer.