Acupuncturist held for sexual harassment of patient: Police

A case has been registered based on a complaint filed by a victim’s husband. In the complaint, the victim’s husband claimed that her wife used to visit him for treatment of leg pain. He also alleged that the accused pierced acupuncture needles all over her body and called it a process of treatment

Bengaluru: An acupuncturist was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a woman patient in Bengaluru, police said on Thursday.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB), which brought acupuncturist Venkataramana alias Venkat, 57, to Bengaluru from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, has recovered many video clips and images from his mobile phone. (HT Archives)

The accused, identified as Venkata Narayana, is a native of Andhra Pradesh.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB), which brought Venkataramana alias Venkat, 57, to Bengaluru from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, has recovered many video clips and images from his mobile phone. The investigators suspect he has recorded many such videos, an officer said.

A case has been registered based on a complaint filed by a victim’s husband. In the complaint, the victim’s husband claimed that her wife used to visit him for treatment of leg pain. He also alleged that the accused pierced acupuncture needles all over her body and called it a process of treatment.

The complaint also reportedly said the accused pierced acupuncture needles even in the private parts of the victim and shot a video of it on his mobile. On October 26, the victim received a nude video of her from an unknown woman and when enquired, it was learned that Venkataramana had filmed videos of other women patients, too, when they visited him for treatment.

“In one such instance, Venkat inserted pins near a woman’s private part claiming it to be part of the treatment and recorded the video of the session. On October 26, the woman received a video on her mobile phone, which prompted her to lodge a complaint with the police,” an officer involved in the probe said.

Venkat after knowing that the police were after him escaped to his hometown Gooty in Anantapur of Andhra Pradesh. Based on a tipoff, police arrested Venkat and brought him to Bengaluru.

According to police, he has been booked under section 354c (Voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code and a local court on Thursday sent him to police custody for 15 days.

The police department formed a special team and nabbed the accused from Tadipatri near Gutti in Andhra Pradesh. The investigations revealed that the accused had studied till Class 12 and later worked as a commercial manager in a private firm for 10 years. He got introduced to a doctor at a workshop, who trained him in acupuncture treatment. After training for two years, he opened a clinic offering acupuncture treatment.