Daijiworld Media Network - Hassan (SP)

Hassan, Jan 10: Distasteful photos of the priest of St Mary church at M Dasapura in Channarayanapatna taluk in the company of a lady have become viral in social websites. The priest has gone missing.

Varadaraju has been the priest of this church since the last four years. The lady seen in his company in the photos is said to be a staff of Christ Educational Institute at Tumakuru. It is said that both of them were in love since the last four years and the two families had discussed about their marriage. The lady was frustrated as Varadaraju did not take further initiative relating to marriage. Because of this, she is said to have shared the photos in social websites.

As soon as his love life came into the open, Varadaraju went missing a week back. No complaint about the said incident has been filed. Senior priests from Hassan arrived here and undertook fact checks. It is said that some villagers have solidly backed the priest, while many others are hell bent on not allowing him to enter the church again. On this issue, there had been a disturbance in the village two days back, and the senior religious leaders had called both sides and advised them to mend their ways.

M Dasapura has 130 houses out of which all except a Dalit family are Christians. Whatever the problem, people from the neighbouring village are barred from interfering the matters of this village as per the custom. Therefore, people from other villages are not showing any interest in the developments happening here, people living in the neighbourhood say.