SURAT: A 43-year-old priest of a temple was arrested in Athwa police station on Thursday for allegedly sodomizing three children during past five days. The accused had lured the minor into the temple hall offering chocolate and later sodomized them.

The accused Acharya Birmani Shivalak Pande , priest of Shesh Narayan Temple at Navsari Bazaar main road in Gopi Talao was arrested and sent for medical examination by police. He was booked under Indian Penal Code for sodomizing and also under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was nabbed from his home in the temple premises. The victim children were also sent for medical examination.

In his complaint, father of a 10-year-old boy alleged that the accused took his son to the temple after luring for chocolate while he was playing near home. In a hall in the temple premises the accused removed clothes of the child and forced him to sit in his lap. The child informed his parents about the incident when his father asked him if he was normal since he looked shocked. The child further informed that the accused is doing similar things with other two boys of 9 and 10 year old.

Later the victim’s father approached parents of the other two children after which they too questioned their kids. The kids confirmed that they were also sodomized in the last five days.

