Bengaluru police on Sunday arrested a priest named Tulasi Appan, following a complaint from the parents of a teenage boy that he was forced to undergo genital mutilation.
The police had booked a case against five transgender persons and Tulasi Appan. He is accused of abetting the crime.
Sathish, Inspector of Pulikeshinagar police station, said that the case has been registered under various sections of IPC including attempt to murder.
"The parents initially refused to file a complaint, however, they later agreed to file one on Sunday," said the Inspector.
According to the police, Naresh, the victim's friend from his pre-university college introduced him to some persons from the transgender community in 2015.
"Naresh got a sex change operation in 2015 and changed his name to Aishu. The victim continued to keep in touch with Aishu and some others in the transgender community, who lived in Chikkaballapura. They brainwashed him during this period and also tried to convince the victim to be a part of them," the Inspector stated.
"In June, the victim started acting indifferent and wanted to stop meeting them. That is when another transgender woman, Anandi, and some others from Bengaluru's Pulikeshinagar, allegedly abducted him and cut off his penis. After almost ten days, he somehow escaped and seems to have approached a Kannada news channel," he added.
The Inspector said that details on the victim’s abduction and how he managed to escape are still not clear and will only be available after further investigation.