Tuesday, 11 July 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Dehradun police booked a priest on Monday on charges of molesting a minor girl who had gone to a temple to offer her prayers on the occasion of the first Somwar of Sawan. The priest who has been identified as Narendra allegedly molested the 14-year-old girl in a temple in the Chukhuwala area on Monday morning. When she protested, the priest allegedly bit her cheek. After the girl reacted in the temple, other devotees and people from Hindu organisations caught the priest and handed him over to the police.
The superintendent of police (city) Sarita Dobhal said that a man registered a complaint in the police station that his daughter went to a temple in their neighbourhood in the Chukkhuwala area to offer prayers on the occasion of first Monday of Sawan when a priest there allegedly molested his daughter. She said that the police booked the priest under section 354 (assault to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
She said that it is a very shameful act and the police are investigating to verify all the claims made by the complainant. The police will act against the guilty on the basis of the evidence as per the law, added the SP.
