Priest held for raping, extorting from 28-year-old devotee in Hassan
The accused later threatened to release morphed photographs of her on social media if she reported the assault and allegedly extorted ₹40,000 from her
A 39-year-old priest from the Puradamma temple in Hassan district, has been arrested by the Bagalgunte police for allegedly raping a 28-year-old devotee and then extorting money from her, a police officer said.
The officer said the incident took place on May 24 when the accused, identified as Dayanand, allegedly invited the woman to participate in a ceremony at an acquaintance’s house in HSR Layout. However, he allegedly drove her to Mysore Road, where he allegedly raped her inside his car.
Quoting the woman, the officer said that Dayanand later threatened to release morphed photographs of her on social media if she reported the assault. He also allegedly extorted ₹40,000 from her and continued to harass her by visiting her workplace and taking her to a hotel, where he assaulted her again, the officer added.
Bagalagunte police inspector Hanumantha Raju said: “We registered a case against the accused on Monday and arrested him on Tuesday. He is booked under BNS section 64 (punishment for rape), 308(2)(punishment for extortion), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 66E(Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017. We have produced him in court and secured a five-day police custody for further interrogation. We are also investigating whether the accused has sexually harassed and extorted other devotees.”
