The All Women Police, Virugambakkam on Tuesday, arrested a 37-year-old temple priest on the charges of raping a woman, an employee of a television company and criminally intimidating her.
The suspect has been identified as Karthik Munusamy, one of the priests in Kalikambal Temple. Following a complaint from the woman, he went absconding. He was later caught in Mettupalayam and brought to the city.
Police sources said Munuswamy got acquainted with the woman, a 32-year-old engineering graduate, as she frequently visited the temple. He got close to her by taking her inside the temple and performing a special pooja on behalf of her. After sometime, under the pretext of dropping her home from the temple, he allegedly went inside her house, made her consume a spiked drink in the guise of ‘theertham’ and raped her. He fled the spot before she regained consciousness. The woman, realised later that she had been raped.
When she confronted him, he told her that he would get more power after having a physical relationship. He convinced her and led a life with her after tying a ‘thali’. When the complainant knew she was pregnant last February, he allegedly took her to a hospital in Vadapalani and got her to abort the baby. A few days later, he brought home a friend to rape her. Munusamy, later verbally and physically abused her, for failing to “cooperate” with his friend, as he was expecting money from the person, the victim alleged.
On Monday, the victim moved the Madras High Court seeking that the case be transferred to the CB-CID saying that the police investigation was slow. She also claimed that Munusamy had threatened her after she lodged a police complaint. Since Munuswamy was absconding from last week, a lookout notice was issued against him to prevent him from leaving the country.
Published - May 28, 2024 10:53 pm IST
