Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, May 6: Byadarahalli police from here have taken into custody the priest of a temple named Mahalingesh. He has been accused of plotting to sacrifice his wife at the premises of the Math on the basis of astrological calculations and lure of gaining access to hidden treasure.

His wife complained to the police that her husband had woken her and her children up at 4 am and asked them to bathe. He got certain puja performed through them, after ordering them to remain nude after their bath.

The priest's wife said that her husband sometimes forces her to consume liquor although she resists it. She said in a complaint addressed to state women's commission that the priest also had developed relationships with devotees visiting the temple. She said that her husband also has been sexually harassing her three daughters and that he had planned to kill her with an eye on bagging the treasure.

On the basis of the complaint made by the 35-year-old affected lady, chairperson of Karnataka State Women's Commission, Nagalaxmi Bai and Byadarahalli police conducted a joint raid on Rudreamuneshwara temple at Ullalu Sir M Visvesvaraya fifth phase and the Math adjoining it and arrested the priest on Saturday May 5.

The police found that Mahalingesh (40), son of Devaraja from Ullalu village had married the distressed woman 18 years back. The couple has three children aged 17, 13 and 11. The couple lives in a house built on four gunta land and also rented out a few houses. About eight years back, Mahalingesh drove away all the rented residents, converted the entire property into a temple by placing idols in all the small houses and performing pujas regularly. 'While he himself officiated as priest of the temple, he had hired a few people for attending to cleaning, cooking etc," the lady said.

The woman stated that her husband was angry with her as she gave birth to three girls and therefore regularly inflicted physical and mental harassment on her. He also used to coin a story about the existence of hidden treasure, claiming that a master named Martanda had told him that there is huge hidden golden treasure at the spot where the temple stands and that a person born under Kumbha (aquarius) star sign should be sacrificed to claim the treasure. He is said to have expressed his decision to kill her as she was born under the said star sign and would marry her sister after getting access to the treasure worth crores of rupees.

"My husband is in the habit of sexually harassing my daughters. In the evening, he forces family members to consume liquor and smoke cigarettes. The children have been overtaken by fear at the behaviour of their father. He also forced me to bring money from my parents. I have distanced from him since sometime and I am living separately. He has driven his own parents out of his house," she stated. She said her husband had dug a three-feet deep pit after placing idols in a room two years back. In these pits, he used to light lamps everyday and break ash gourds. He had fixed August 27 as the date for her sacrifice, the woman said.

Nagalakshmi Bai said that after receiving the complaint from the woman, the temple was visited on Saturday and it was found that there is truth in some of the charges levelled by the woman. She expressed shock at the behaviour of the accused and said that the superintendent of police of Ramanagar district has been advised to take stringent action against the culprit.

Byadarahalli police said that the case under different sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act stands registered against the priest and he has also been booked for sexual atrocities. They added that they are probing the allegation about the plan to sacrifice his wife as alleged by the woman.