Kerala temple priest arrest for blackmailing woman with private video

BENGALURU: A priest of the popular Peringottukara temple in Thrissur, Kerala, was arrested by the Bellandur police for blackmailing a woman by using her private video recorded on WhatsApp. The arrested accused is Arun while the chief priest, Unni Damodaran, absconded after the incident.

The woman had gone to the temple in Kerala, claiming that she had been subjected to black magic. At that time, she met the temple priest Arun. The priest had promised to perform a ritual to eliminate a curse which the woman believed had been cast upon her.

He demanded Rs 24,000 for the ritual and later started making lewd demands, including forcing her to strip naked during video calls on WhatsApp. After this, he would constantly call the woman on WhatsApp late at night. He would make video calls while standing stripped and also harass her to do the same if she wanted to clear the curse.

When the woman refused, he threatened to harm her children. The priest recorded her obscene (nude) video and used it to blackmail her, forcing her to meet him in Kerala. He tortured her by saying, he will book a room for them when she visits.

Fed up with this, the woman filed a complaint against priest Arun and chief priest Unni Damodar at the Bellandur police station alleging indecent behaviour and attempted rape by taking her in a car. Following the complaint, police arrested the accused priest Arun. Police are on the lookout for Chief Priest Unni Damodar, who is absconding.