In his selfie video before consuming poison, he alleged that he was being harassed by the temple authorities. He was paid just Rs 1,000 per month and was being forced to participate in illegal acts. (Representational Images)

Kakinada: The suicide of a priest, P. Phanikumar Acharyulu, of Venkateswara Temple in Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari district on December 12, triggered state-wide protests by archakas and closure of 100 temples in the state on Friday.

This was the second suicide of a priest in the last three months. In October this year hereditary archaka Mallikarjuna Sarma, 27, working at Sivalayam in Kanupuru village in Korukonda mandal committed suicide.

In his selfie video before consuming poison, he alleged that he was being harassed by the temple authorities. He was paid just Rs 1,000 per month and was being forced to participate in illegal acts.

Panangipalli Phani Kumar Acharyulu also shot a selfie video before he consumed rat poison. In it, the 33-year-old priest complained of being harassed by the chairman of the TTD Trust Ch Satyanarayana, his wife Jayalakshmi and his younger brother Ch Ramakrishna and said he was unable to bear the insults and harassment.

He died on December 13 while undergoing treatment. His death led to protests on Friday.