Woman accuses priest of rape, blackmailing her with video clip

A 37-year-old mother of two has accused the priest of a temple in outer Delhi’s Rohini of repeatedly raping her over the past five years. The priest would blackmail her into silence with a video clip of the act the first time he raped her, she told police.

The woman approached the local police on Thursday and claimed that she mustered the courage as she could no longer take his abuse. The priest was subsequently arrested on Friday.

The victim lives with her husband and two children in Rohini’s Sector 7. She told police that she would regularly visit the local Saibaba temple for praying. 

About five years ago, she met the priest Rajesh Pandey at the temple premises and sought his advice on some domestic problems troubling her.

“The priest took her to his home by claiming that a ritual would have to be performed to rid her of her problems. Instead, he fed her sedatives and raped her,” said a police officer. 

“He recorded the video of the act and had been blackmailing her with the video ever since,” the officer said, quoting the victim’s complaint.

The priest had allegedly continued to rape her by blackmailing to upload the video on the internet if she objected. She  approached Rohini North police station on Thursday.Police registered a case of rape and arrested the priest the following day. 

However, the video which the woman was referring to has not been traced yet, said police. The mobile phones and some other gadgets of the accused priest have been seized in a bid to retrieve the alleged video.

A native of Gorakhpur, Pandey, 42, had been serving as the temple priest for the last 25 years. He lives with his wife and two children in the same area.