A priest from the famous Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram is at large after he allegedly slapped a woman devotee who asked him about a pooja ritual.
The incident took place on Friday evening, at the Mukkuruni Vinayagar shrine inside the temple complex.
Latha (51) had gone to the temple since it was her son Rajesh’s birthday and she wanted to do pooja on his behalf. She approached the priest Darshan, and gave him the pooja items. The priest allegedly took the items inside the sanctum sanctorum and returned immediately to Latha, to give back the coconut. When she allegedly asked him why he had not recited the hymns with her son’s birth star and zodiac, the priest reportedly yelled at her, as per a news report in Hindustan Times.
Latha also alleged that when she told the priest to stop yelling, he intensified the abuse and slapped her on her cheek. However, a video footage shot by a devotee immediately after the incident shows Darshan sitting on the steps on the shrine and alleging that Latha tried to snatch his gold chain from his neck and that he slapped her in self-defence.
A priest in #Chidambaram Nataraja temple allegedly slapped a woman devotee when she asked him why he hadn’t chanted mantras.Priest claims woman was trying to rob his gold chain.
Priest still missing. FIR filed. pic.twitter.com/Xi8DxVtCa4
— Megha Kaveri (@meghakaveri) November 18, 2019
Latha is seen explaining in the video that she had asked Darshan why he did not chant anything while doing the pooja and had just returned the coconut she gave after breaking it. While the woman continues to narrate her ordeal, the priest is seen justifying his actions with other devotees accusing him of lying. “Who beat her? I pushed her because she was trying to take my chain away,” the priest is heard saying in the video.
Speaking to TNM about the incident, a policeman at the Chidambaram Town police station said that Darshan is still at large and that the police are looking for him. “We have registered FIR against the priest for harassing and abusing a woman devotee. We have formed a special team to nab him,” the policeman said.
Source: The News Minute