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	Kancheepuram Priest in Sex Scandal By M.c. Rajan India today November 17, 2009 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/71171/LATEST%20NEWS/Kancheepuram+priest+in+sex+scandal.html A sex scandal involving a temple priest in the famed pilgrim town of Kancheepuram has shocked devotees. The public is aghast that his sexual escapades took place in the sanctum sanctorum of the Machaesa Perumal temple, a Vaishnavite shrine. What's even more scandalous is that the 36-year-old priest, Devanathan, used to engage in sexual acts even as unsuspecting devotees waited outside to perform puja. Devanathan, a father of two, surrendered before a judicial magistrate on Monday after evading the police dragnet for more than a month. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Madras High Court a few days ago. The perversity of the seducer in priestly robes extended to recording his sexual acts with at least four women on his mobile phone. This however, proved to be his undoing, the police said. When snag, he gave it for repair at a shop. The technician downloaded the explicit scenes and brought them into the public domain. The priests' sexual acts are now doing the rounds on MMS and the Internet. "It seems lust has blinded his eyes. He has been trapped by his own act of recording his sexual encounters. Going by the calendar hung in the temple's sanctum sanctorum, the video clips were shot in June, July and August," said a police officer investigating the case. Kancheepuram's shame appears to be a great hit among youngsters in search of sexual gratification. Recorded in the MMS format on at least 19 files and running for about 90 minutes, the video clips are a rage with the teens. The footage shows the priest taking regular breaks from his acts to attend to devotees waiting with their offerings. Hailing from Pazhaiya Seevaram near Kancheepuram, Devanathan was entrusted with the sacred duty of performing pujas at the temple, one of the oldest in the town. The police said he used to entice women who came alone to enter the sanctum. Within a few days, he would succeed in his attempts to seduce them. Among those who fell for his charm was a woman past her thirties and a salwar-clad woman in her early twenties. The women who entered Devanathan's good books got preference over others waiting for the puja. The temple town is awash with the obscene CDs being sold on the sly. The first of the clips appeared in public a fortnight ago. The police swung into action and formed a special team to nab the priest. But he went into hiding along with his family and moved the Madras High Court, seeking anticipatory bail. After the court dismissed his bail application, Devanathan had no option but to surrender. Kancheepuram's superintendent of police (SP) Prem Anand Sinha said cases had been registered against Devanathan under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. Asked about the women involved in the act, the SP said the police investigation would not veer towards that. "But we are searching for the cellphone technician who was responsible for circulating the obscene videos," Sinha added.
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