Prominent temple chief priest, son suspended for sexual harassment in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Chief priest of a prominent temple in Telangana has been suspended following allegations of dowry and sexual harassment against him.
His son, who is also a priest at the temple, has also been suspended.
Announcing their suspension on Wednesday evening, executive officer of the temple, L Rama Devi, said they took the action after a complaint was filed by the chief priest’s daughter-in law in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh’s Tadepalligudem accusing the father-son duo of harassment.

Rama Devi told TOI, “An FIR was registered in Aug in Tadepalligudem in West Go davari against the chief priest and his adopted son. We received the FIR copy recently. There are also allegations of sexual harassment. To maintain the dignity of the temple priesthood, we suspended both of them.”
Chief priest & son's alleged abuse rocks T'gana temple town
Tadepalligudem town inspector A Subrahmanyam said the FIR was registered under IPC sections 354-A (sexual harassment of the nature of unwelcome physical contact and advances or a demand or request for sexual favours), 354-D (stalking) and 498A (dowry harassment) and section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
“We are investigating the case from all angles. Last time when we visited the temple town, the accused duo were not available. We will question them soon,” he told TOI.
The issue came to light when the daughter-in-law filed a complaint on Aug 14 alleging that her father-in-law had sexually assaulted her and that her husband and other family members demanded Rs 10 lakh dowry.
The chief priest, who has daughters but no sons, adopted this son a few years ago from a family he knew. The son married a woman from Tadepalligudem in 2019, but soon after, problems cropped up in their marital life. Matters escalated when chief priest allegedly began sexually harassing her, the daughterin-law said in her complaint.
Despite her attempts to resolve the matter within the family, both father and son allegedly continued their abusive behaviour, she alleged. Taking a serious view of her complaint, Telangana endowments commissioner M Hanumantha Rao initiated disciplinary action against the chief priest and his adopted son. Sources said this was probably first such instance in temple’s history when a chief priest was booked for sexual harassment.