Tamil Nadu state police have arrested a self-styled godman, Sathiya Narayanan, and his wife Pushpalatha after he allegedly raped a devotee several times in the past five years, and blackmailed her to leak her naked pictures, the police official said on Sunday.
The Police revealed to Indian newswire IANS that Narayanan's wife Pushpalatha had helped him rape the woman when she was 16 years old in 2016.
"I was staying with my grandmother while I was (studying in) in Class 12 (high school) and we frequented the temple. On 12 April 2016, I was asked to get the sacred ash. When I went to the temple, Pushpalatha gave me juice and after two hours, I was lying naked in the bed with Sathiya Narayanan and Pushpalatha by my side," the victim said in the police complaint.
She also said that Narayanan had informed her that she was burdened with sins and that he had freed her.
Scared by the whole incident, the victim decided to stay quiet and after two years, she got married and moved to another place.
Little did she know that four years after that incident, Narayanan would continue to harass her.
While her husband was abroad for his job, Narayanan called her and threatened her in an attempt to coerce her to come meet him at the temple.
"I went to meet him and he raped me repeatedly stating that he would send my naked photos to my husband," she wrote in the police complaint.
In July 2020, the victim became pregnant and when Narayan and Pushpalatha found out, they tried to force her to abort the fetus. However, she didn't listen, and gave birth in January 2021.
Her husband, who didn't know about the incident, returned to India to visit the family and after he went back abroad in November, Narayan called her again in an attempt to get her to meet him.
This time, she didn't give in to his threats; instead, she broke her silence and told her husband everything.
She filed a police complaint, and the police have arrested both Narayanan and Pushpalatha and sent them to judicial custody.
The police are investigating if he has raped or sexually assaulting other victims.