By Matters India Reporter
Ariyur, March 17, 2023: The police in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have arrested the leader of a radical Hindu group for his alleged plan to extort money from a Catholic priest by raising sexual allegations.
The arrested has been identified as Muthuvel, district secretary of the Ariyur unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), who had allegedly demanded 2.5 million rupees from the priest or face character assassination.
The police on March 13 arrested the 40-year-old leader on the charge of demanding money and threatening Father Dominic Savio, parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Ariyalur, under the diocese of Kumbakonam.
Based on the priest’s complaint, the police arrested Muthuvel, who was later remanded in 15-day judicial custody.
Father Savio told Matters India on March 16 that Muthuvel through one of his men, had asked him to pay 2.5 million rupees or he would trap the priest in a rape case.
The priest also said the Hindu leader had sent some women to protest before the church to force him to yield to the Hindu leader’s demand. Some people also entered the church campus and destroyed CCTV cameras, the priest said.
Muthuvel also threatened to launch a campaign against the priest accusing him of harassing girls in his schools. The priest currently coordinates three diocesan schools.
According to Father Savio, Muthuvel began harassing him several months ago. He had filed several police complaints accusing the priest of sexually assaulting minor girls.
The priest said he had to face police questioning every time the false cases were filed. “But on March 13 when his henchmen demanded a ransom of 25 lakh (2.5 million) rupees on the phone I recorded it and lodged a complaint with the police,” Father Savio explained.
The police immediately arrested Muthuvel and produced him in the court.
The police also recovered an audio clip where Muthuvel conspiring with a henchman to start sectarian violence in Ariyur. They also discussed someone willing to fund 500,000 rupees for unleashing violence.
The police have charged Muthuvel under several sections of the Indian Penal Code such as provocation with the intent to cause riot, and promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion.
Muthuvel came to prominence in January 2022 when he blamed the hostel warden of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti in Thanjavur for the death of a twelfth grader.
The girl had reportedly consumed pesticide and a video circulated by Muthuvel showed the girl on her death bed alleged that the warden Sister Sahaya Mary had forced her to change religion.
After that, another video of the girl’s speech was also released. The student did not mention anything about conversion in that particular video. In this case, the cell phone of Muthuvel that was used to record the girl’s speech was handed over for investigation. The cellphone had taken four videos.
The first video contains the personal details of the student. The second video does not mention anything about religious conversion. It was found that the third video shows the girl saying she was forced to change her religion and the fourth contains the speech of her step mother. The probe revealed that the claim that the student ended her life as she was forced to change her religion was false.
The school authorities had denied the allegation.
The police then arrested the warden, a 62-year-old member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and a court sent her to prison.
She was released on bail after several months. The case now is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a federal probe agency, following an order from Madurai Bench of Tamil Nadu High Court.