Police in Malaysia have launched a manhunt for an Indian priest accused of molesting a beauty queen under the pretext of blessing her. The priest – an Indian national – was officiating at a Hindu temple on June 21 where he allegedly groped beauty queen Lishalliny Kanaran under the guise of sprinkling holy water.
“The suspect is an Indian national who was temporarily filling the position because the temple’s resident priest is currently abroad,” Sepang district police chief ACP Norhizam Bahaman was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
The incident came to light after Lishalliny Kanaran, an actor and winner of Miss Grand Malaysia 2021, wrote about it in an Instagram post two days ago.
What happened at the Hindu temple in Malaysia?
According to Lishalliny, on June 21, she went to a temple alone as her mother was in India. The temple was later identified as Mariamman Temple in Sepang, located a short distance from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
“There's a priest there who would usually guide me through the rituals, since I'm new to all this. I don't know much, and I've always appreciated his help,” the beauty queen recalled. “On that day, while I was praying, he approached me and told me he had some holy water and a protective string to tie for me; a blessing, he said.”
Asked to come to private office
The unsuspecting actress completed her prayers and waited for the priest to bless her. She waited about an hour and a half as the priest continued blessing other devotees. He then asked Lishalliny Kanaran to follow him to his private office, where he then molested her.
{{/usCountry}}The unsuspecting actress completed her prayers and waited for the priest to bless her. She waited about an hour and a half as the priest continued blessing other devotees. He then asked Lishalliny Kanaran to follow him to his private office, where he then molested her.
{{/usCountry}}Lishalliny claimed in her Instagram post that she felt uneasy about following the priest to his office but did so anyway. “Inside the office, he asked me to sit while he stood,” she recalled. “He poured something, a very strong-smelling liquid, like rose or flower essence into the holy water. He said it was from India, and that they don't usually give it to ordinary people.”
The Indian-origin beauty queen said the priest kept splashing her with water – to the point where she could not even open her eyes. Then he allegedly asked her to lift up the Punjabi suit she was wearing.
“Put his hands inside my blouse”
When a shocked Lishalliny refused, claiming her blouse was too tight to lift up, the priest scolded her for wearing tight clothes. Things took a distressing turn when the priest stood behind the beauty queen and put his hands inside her blouse and inside her bra.
Describing the moment, Lishalliny wrote: “He splashed the water again and stood behind me.
He kept murmuring something I couldn't understand – prayers, maybe – and suddenly, he held my head and continued murmuring while touching me.
“Then, without warning, he put his hands inside my blouse, into my bra, and started touching me inappropriately.”
“My brain knew everything about that moment was wrong and yet I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I froze. And I still don’t understand why,” she said.
Reporting the priest
Lishalliny was in shock for the next few days, almost refusing to believe that she had been molested by a priest in what was supposed to be the one place she felt safe.
“That betrayal is what cuts the deepest. I won't go into more detail. But I was MOLESTED by that priest. And I couldn't react,” she said.
The beauty pageant winner said that over the next few days, she felt disgusted and traumatized. Eventually, when her mother returned from India, she opened up about being molested. Furious and horrified, her mother told the rest of the family about the incident. The same day, on July 4, they lodged a police complaint against the priest.
However, when they went to the temple, they realized that the priest had already fled. “Apparently, the priest wasn't there anymore. Someone had already reported him before for the same thing and yet no action had been taken,” Lishalliny said, accusing the temple management of a cover-up to save their own name rather than helping her.
“The suspect is an Indian national who was temporarily filling the position because the temple’s resident priest is currently abroad,” ACP Norhizam said in a statement to Malay Mail.
“The suspect’s modus operandi was allegedly to sprinkle holy water on the victim’s face and body before proceeding to molest her,” he added.