E-Paper
'Humiliated' by children, Army veteran donates property worth ₹4 crore to temple
An Army veteran donated original property documents to a temple in Tamil Nadu. He was reportedly being pressured by his daughters for the transfer of assets.
At Tamil Nadu's Arulmigu Renugambal Amman temple, it is a traditional practice for temple authority members to count the donations, usually cash offerings, from devotees once every two months.
During one such routine check on Tuesday, June 24, the temple members were surprised to find original documents of two properties worth ₹4 crore inside one of the 11 'hundis' at the temple, The Hindu reported. A 'hundi' is the donation box where devotees drop cash and other offerings at a temple.
The temple is located in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district near Arani town, and the devotee who donated original property documents was identified as S Vijayan, a retired Army official.
A native of Kesavapuram village, Vijayan has worshipped at the temple since childhood. He has been living alone for nearly ten years following a disagreement with his wife, V Kasturi, 56.
The 65-year-old Army veteran has two daughters, both married, living in Chennai and Vellore. However, he reportedly receives no support from his family, and further investigation revealed that he was being pressured by his daughters to transfer his assets to them.
“I was humiliated by my children even for daily expenses,” Mr. Vijayan was quoted by The Hindu. “I will not go back on my word. After consulting temple officials, I will legally transfer my properties to the temple," he added.
The documents submitted at the temple pertain to 10 cents of land and a single-storey house located near the shrine. They collectively are worth nearly ₹4 crore.
The devotee also attached a hand-written note along with the property documents, stating his consent for the donation.
While temple cannot automatically stake claim to the assets as the devotee dropped the documents in the 'hundi', papers can also not be returned to the devotee at this stage, as senior HR&CE officials have been notified.
"The devotee has to register it (the documents) with the department for it to stake claim on the property,” M Silambarasan, Executive Officer of the temple reportedly said.
Until a decision is made, the department will retain custody of the documents.
