Fugitive priest from Chennai arrested for sexually abusing his partner in Kodaikanal

CHENNAI: Karthik Munusamy, priest of the renowned Mannadi Kalikambal Temple in Chennai, was arrested after a television presenter accused him of sexual assault.

He was arrested from Kodaikanal and detained by the Virugambakkam All Women Police under six sections, nearly a fortnight after an FIR was filed against him. A wanted notice was also issued to prevent him from fleeing India.

Karthik is said to have tried to force his partner into prostitution and repeatedly attacked her, even though she refused.

According to the victim’s complaint, she was an engineering graduate who had come to the city in 2021 to work and was working for a private TV channel. Her parents were both dead and she lived alone.

Around this time, she met Karthik, a priest of a temple in Parry’s Corner, when she visited the temple in 2022. The priest had given her preferential treatment and offered to take her home one day.

When he reached her home, he allegedly slipped alcohol into her drink and raped her. When the woman later questioned him, he assured her that he liked her and would marry her.

He also told her that he was separated from his wife and that they would both be fine if they stayed together. He reportedly apologized, tied a ‘thali’ (a necklace worn by married women) around her neck and they began moving in together.

In February 2023, he forced her to undergo an abortion at a private hospital in Vadapalani.

The priest then brought home a man who claimed to be a VIP and after a while left the house, asking the woman to join him. The guest allegedly tried to misbehave with her, after which she cried and called the priest who consoled her.

After the incident, the priest began to attack her frequently, claiming that she was an obstacle to his destiny because she did not cooperate with the guest.

Based on a complaint from the woman, the AWPS (All Women Police Station) in Virugambakkam had registered a case under various sections.