Temple priest held for raping woman

The Crime Branch-CID of the Tamil Nadu police has arrested a temple priest on the charge of raping a woman, who later died by suicide. According to a press release, Ramakrishnan of Pennalurpet in Tiruvallur district lodged a complaint on February 16, stating that his daughter, who was staying at a temple in Vellathukottai for participating in a puja, attempted to end her life on February 14. She was admitted to the Tiruvallur Government Hospital, where she died a couple of days later. The Pennalurpet police registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Cr.PC. The case was subsequently transferred to the CB-CID.   The investigation revealed that the temple priest, Munusamy, lied to the victim that she had ‘nagadosha’ and asked her to come to the temple often and raped her, thereby abetting her suicide. The case was altered to that of rape, and the accused was arrested and remanded in judicial custody, the release said. (Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)