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Two priests among three arrested for minor’s marriage in TN dist: Police
According to the police, the marriage was conducted in the temple in Chidambaram town on January 25, 2021 and the bride was only 17-year-old at the time.
Three people, including two priests, have been arrested for conducting a child marriage at the famous Nataraja temple in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district, police said on Sunday.
According to the police, the marriage was conducted in the temple in Chidambaram town on January 25, 2021 and the bride was only 17-year-old at the time. The accused, including Hemasabesa, the secretary of Nataraja temple priests (dikshitars) and also the father of the minor bride, were arrested on Saturday, a senior police officer said.
“The groom, Nyanasekar alias Rajarathinam, who was 19-year-old at the time of the marriage, and his father Vijayabalan alias Venketeswaran, who is also a priest in the temple, have also been arrested,” the officer told HT.
The accused have been booked under provisions of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Section 366(A) (Procuration of minor girl) of the Indian Penal Code, said the officer, adding that a first information report (FIR) has been registered at the Chidambaram police station.
“The accused were produced before a judicial magistrate on Sunday and remanded in judicial/police custody,” said an officer from the Chidambaram police station. “They have been lodged in Chidambaram sub-jail.”
When police reached the temple premises to conduct investigations on Saturday night, a group of dikshitars sat on the road in protest, said a person in the know of the developments.
There have been several complaints of child marriage at the nearly 1,000-year-old temple in Cuddalore district, police said. In September, a 23-year-old priest was arrested for marrying a minor girl at the temple a year ago.
This is the second time this year that the temple’s dikshitars have protested against state authorities. In May, the state’s department of Hindu, Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) had served a notice to dikshitars of the Nataraja temple to keep ready records of the temple’s accounts and assets for an inquiry committee’s visit on June 7 and 8. However, when a five-member team arrived at the temple, they were turned away twice. The dikshitars also refused to show records to the team, contending that the latter had no jurisdiction to call for records or inspect the premises backed by a 2014 Supreme Court order.
In 2014, the apex court had ruled that dikshitars will run the temple by setting aside a 2009 Madras high court order that allowed appointment of an officer by the HR&CE department to oversee the administration of the temple.
