In a shocking incident, a temple priest allegedly raped a 22-year-old mentally unstable girl in Saket in South Delhi.
Police say, the priest allegedly took the girl to his room to get some vegetables cut and raped her. The incident reportedly took place on March 4 at the Shiv Mandir in
Pushp Vihar Sector-1.
Santosh Kumar Tiwari (40), the accused, has been arrested.
“He had fled from the temple but returned on Sunday evening to gather his things. The victim’s brother spotted him and caught him with the help of his family members. When a PCR reached the spot, the accused was being beaten up. The cops arrested and took him to AIIMS,” said a police officer.
The police said the priest had raped the woman when she had come to the temple with her cousin after her weekly fast on March 4. “It was around 10:30 am when the priest asked her to help her cut vegetables. Her cousin left. He took her to his room and raped her,” added the officer. Tiwari, a native of Varanasi, had been a priest at the temple for six years.
Keshav Kumar Bhatt, one of the four temple priests, said the victim had come to the temple with her cousin. “None of us were aware until the girl’s mother reached the temple around 8 pm and accused Tiwari of raping her daughter. He managed to escape,” said Bhatt.
The police said that a case was registered. Tiwari was arrested after the girl’s medical examination confirmed rape.