The accused, identified as Vijayaraja (50) (Representative image)
The accused, identified as Vijayaraja (50), was running an occult rituals centre named ‘Saneeswara’ at Vazhapadi near here. Police said a laptop recovered from him contained more than 50 videos of women and schoolgirls, purportedly showing them in an obscene manner.
Police said he allegedly filmed women and girls secretly under the pretext of performing rituals and distributed the footage through dark web forums. Vijayaraja allegedly filmed the women without their knowledge after giving them drinking water or eatables laced with sedatives in the form of prasad, according to police. Police said Vijayaraja had previously worked at a utensil manufacturing unit, which later folded up. He then allegedly began falsely claiming that he was a “godman and practitioner of occult rituals”.
After an intensive search, locals traced him to a nearby hiding place, restrained him and handed him over to Vazhapadi police. Using hidden cameras, he allegedly recorded his victims in an obscene manner. Police also alleged that he sexually abused several women while they were in an incapacitated state.
NEW DELHI: A self-styled godman, who allegedly duped people by claiming to perform occult rituals, was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing women and minor girls, filming them in an obscene manner and selling the video clips, police said on Sunday.
The frightened girl informed her parents, following which a group of family members and local youths reached the ritual centre. On seeing the approaching crowd, Vijayaraja locked the premises and fled.