Cuddalore: Chidambaram temple priest slaps devotee

CUDDALORE: A temple priest was booked on charges of assaulting a woman devotee on the temple premises at Chidambaram in Cuddalore district.

Police said S Latha, 51, a nurse posted at a government primary health centre, visited Lord Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram to perform pooja for her son S Rajesh on his 21st birthday on Saturday.

She went to a shrine dedicated to Vinayagar inside the temple and gave the pooja articles to Dharshan Dikshithar, a member of the hereditary priests (podhu dikshithars) and custodians of the temple. She claimed that the priest on receiving the pooja articles went inside the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine without noting down her son's name and his star sign and performed the pooja.

When the dikshithar returned and presented the prasad to her she questioned him on how he performed pooja for her son without knowing his name and star sign. Soon, an argument erupted and in a fit of rage, the dikshithar reportedly slapped the woman. The incident shocked the scores of devotees in the temple.

They questioned the behaviour of the dikshithar. The priest claimed that the woman attempted to snatch his gold chain and he acted in self-defence to protect his belonging.

Devotees condemned the behaviour of the priest and demanded the authorities initiate stringent action against him.

The woman later lodged a complaint with Chidambaram town police station.

Police booked the priest under section 294-b (obscene songs and acts) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian penal code (IPC) and section 4 (penalty for harassment of women) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998.

Police launched a hunt for the priest, who absconded on learning that a case was booked against him. A video of the incident had gone viral on WhatsApp.