On Wednesday (November 29), the Karnataka High Court upheld the order of a trial court that had acquitted a Hindu seer, who was accused of allegedly raping his female disciple between 2011 and 2014.
As per reports, the matter was heard by a Bench of Justice V Shrishananda. The Bench upheld the verdict of the lower court that acquitted Ramachandrapura Math’s Head seer Raghaveshwara Bharathi of rape charges in 2016. The appeals were filed before the Court by the victim and the CID probing the case.
“We do not find existence of grave and strong suspicion, much less any suspicion, as to involvement of the accused in the alleged crime of rape absolutely no iota of materials to frame the charges against the accused (sic),” the trial court had noted. It said that no sexual assault could be established and it could at best be described as ‘sexual affair’ amounting to ‘unacceptable intimacy.’
The Background of the Case
As per a report in The News Minute, Raghaveshwara Bharathi was accused of rape by his disciple, who worked under him at the Ramachandrapura Math in 2010. The woman, now in her 50s, was a part of the Ramakatha programme that consisted of a group of 5 people. She had claimed that Bharathi began making sexual advances towards her between September-October 2011.
The woman had alleged that the Hindu seer came to her room under the guise of praying to Lord Ram but instead forced himself on her. She claimed to have been forced into silence by the ‘fear of divine wrath.’ The woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Raghaveshwara Bharathi Bharathi in 2012 and 2013, following which she stopped coming to the Math.
However, in 2014, she re-established ties with the Ramkatha troupe and was allegedly subjected to sexual abuse by Bharathi. As per the victim, she was last assaulted by the Hindu seer in June 2014. The woman had claimed that Raghaveshwara Bharathi got her and her husband arrested even before they could file a complaint.
Later, a case was filed before the Court by the woman’s daughter seeking action against the Hindu seer. While the matter was being heard by the trial court, Bharthi moved the Karnataka High Court seeking dismissal of charges. Although the High Court upheld that the accused was fit for investigation, the trial court acquitted the Head Seer of the Ramachandrapura Math on March 31, 2016, due to lack of evidence.
Two separate petitions were filed by the State and the victim’s family in the High Court challenging the trial court’s order, which was eventually turned down.