CHENNAI: A godman and his wife were arrested by the city police on Saturday allegedly for raping a girl since she was a minor and impregnating her a year ago. The accused had taken naked pictures of the girl and threatened to upload them online if she didn't abort the foetus.
The accused Sathiya Narayanan and his wife Pushpalatha own a temple known as ‘Shirdipuram Sarva Sakthi Peedam Sai Baba Koil’, in the city. According to the police, Pushpalatha had helped Sathiya Narayanan to rape the victim when she was 16-years-old.
“I stayed in my grandmother’s house when I was in Class 12. We frequented the temple and on 12 April 2016, I was asked to get the sacred ash. When I went to the temple Pushpalatha offered me juice and two hours later I was lying without clothes on a bed with the duo by the side,” said the victim in her complaint.
The FIR read that Sathiya Narayanan had claimed that the victim was burdened with sins and that he freed her of it. Later he showed her the photos and threatened not to tell anyone. The victim moved out of the place and was married in 2018.
After her husband left abroad for work, Sathiya Narayanan had called the victim in March 2020. “He had learned I was alone and threatened me to visit him, failing which he would send the pictures to my husband. I was forced to visit Sathiya and he raped me several times in the following months,” the victim is quoted in the FIR.
In July 2020, the victim learned that she was pregnant and when the godman and his wife came to know about it, they threatened her to abort the baby. The victim attempted to kill herself which was thwarted. She gave birth to a baby in Jan this year.
The victim’s husband had visited the family and returned abroad in November. Following this Sathiya had forced the victim to meet him again. This time the victim informed her husband and a complaint was lodged at an All Women Police Station in the city.
Sathiya Narayanan and his wife were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. The duo were booked under nine sections including IPC 328 (causing hurt by sedative), IPS 376 (rape), IPC 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation), POCSO Act, section 5(f) (Aggravated penetrative sexual assault), section 11(threatening with electronic images), section 17 (abetment)
The godman has a YouTube channel named ‘Shirdipuram Naana Baba’, with over 300 videos of talks on spirituality and interviews with thousands of views.