A priest (panda) of Maa Vindhyavasini temple in Vindhyachal, Mirzapur was accused of molesting a woman in the name of ‘prayer’ and darshan of the deity.
Surprisingly, the local police refused to register a case as they were aware of the ‘connections’ of the accused but after a video went viral, the senior officers intervened to avoid embarrassment and ordered immediate registration of a case. The cops, however, took no further action claiming that the matter was still under investigation.
According to reports, a family came from Aligarh for darshan at Maa Vindhyavasini temple in Mirzapur on Tuesday. The victim said that he had come from Aligarh with his daughter-in-law, son and wife. After visiting all the three temples in Vindhyachal, he claimed to have reached the hotel of former acquaintance Teerth Purohit Raj Mishra. He said that Raj Mishra assured them that he would help them in performing special puja of the deity so that all were blessed by the goddess. He said that as they went to Vindhyachal for the prayers they gave their consent.
The victim alleged that Raj Mishra first took his wife inside a room for prayers. He claimed that the prayers would be offered one by one and no one else would remain present in the room. He said that later the Mishra took his daughter-in-law but they got suspicious after he locked the door of the room from inside. Before they could raise an objection, the family heard loud screams of their daughter-in-law so they raised an alarm following which other visitors to the temple also gathered there. In the meantime, the daughter-in-law managed to open the door and came rushing outside shouting for help. She alleged that Raj Mishra had molested her and in the name of prayers, had groped her and threatened her to keep her mouth shut.
The family immediately reached the local police station to lodge a report but the cops refused to entertain the complaint so the family staged a demonstration in front of the police station and also made a video and posted it on social media, accusing Raj Mishra of molesting the woman. As the video went viral, senior officers intervened and got a case registered.
Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Shrikant Prajapati said that the family had accused Purohit Raj Mishra of molestation. He said after registering the FIR, the matter was being investigated and they would take action after collecting evidence.