Bengaluru, June 16 (IANS) Karnataka Police have arrested a priest from Kerala on charges of blackmailing a woman and attempting to rape her, officials said on Monday, adding that a hunt has been launched for another priest, who is absconding.

According to police, the arrested person has been identified as Arun, attached to the Peringottukara temple located in Kerala. Police are searching for Unni Damodaran, the temple’s main priest, in connection with the case.

The woman, whose family was experiencing financial difficulties, was advised by her friends to visit the temple at Peringottukara for solutions. Police stated that the victim, a resident of Bengaluru, had also seen a video about the temple and became convinced that performing a special worship there would end her crisis.

The accused was introduced to the victim when she went to the temple to perform the special worship. The accused priests gained her confidence through their interactions. They made WhatsApp video calls to her and behaved inappropriately.

Taking advantage of her vulnerable situation, the accused threatened the victim under the pretext of performing black magic and committed the crime. Later, they called her to the temple and this time demanded her cooperation. The victim stated in her complaint that the accused forced her to have unnatural sex.

The victim told the police that she knew the Tamil and Kannada languages. The accused Arun helped her get in touch with the other accused, Unni Damodaran, acting as a translator to the Malayalam language. He had assured her that the worship would cost Rs 24,000 and obtained her mobile number. The accused made many calls to her.

The accused Arun, claimed that someone had performed black magic on her family and that they would perform a worship to counter it. He asked her to follow his instructions. The accused made a video call to the victim while in a nude state and also asked her to become nude. When the victim did not agree, he threatened to perform black magic on her children and forced her to strip and attend the worship.

He ordered her to come to the temple in Kerala for another special worship. The victim, scared of his threats of black magic on her family, went to Kerala. After the worship, both accused forcefully took her to a jungle in their car and tried to force her to have unnatural sex with them, claiming it was a ritual to complete the worship, police said.

Somehow, the woman managed to escape and, after returning to Bengaluru, lodged a police complaint with the Bellandur police station. Police said she is shocked by the incident, and further investigation into the case is on.

–IANS

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