Sreekanth Karanath, who took the role of an oracle at a family temple in Thrissur district, was arrested by the Anthikad police for allegedly ‘abetting the suicide of a woman’ by tarnishing her reputation in public.
Sub Inspector of Anthikad police station in Thrissur has confirmed the arrest to TNM on a call. Sreekanth would be presented at the court on Tuesday. The case has been registered under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) – investigation of unnatural deaths.
Sreekanth allegedly accused the married woman of having an illicit relationship while he was performing as an oracle – and uttering words that devotees believe to be coming from God. This happened on February 25, at the Karanath family temple in Manaloor, Palazhy, about 15 km away from Thrissur, where nearly 200 people were present. The oracle also asked the woman to apologise before the goddess of the temple. The 30-year-old woman, also a mother of two boys, reportedly felt utterly despaired despite the reassuring words of her husband and brother, and killed herself the very next day.
Her husband Jobin, who was working in a Gulf country, and brother gave a complaint to the police against the oracle.
"The oracle (komaram in Malayalam) Sreekanth and his friend Janamithran are close relatives of our family. For the last several months Janamithran tried to tarnish the image of my wife. The accused spread some fake messages against my wife through WhatsApp and we warned him to stop several times," says Jobin.
"After the incident in the temple, my family informed me about the issue over phone. My wife said that the public humiliation by the komaram had mentally stressed her. On the night of February 26, she was found dead,” says the bereaved husband.
“We suspect the komaram humiliated my wife through the influence of Janamithran,” Jobin alleges.
Learning about the incident, officials of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) had visited the house of the family. KSSP district president KS Jaya, general secretary T Sathyanarayanan, and gender issues state committee convenor PS Juna visited the home of the woman and spoke to the family on Sunday.
“Everyone is wary of speaking out, since it concerns matters of faith. Knowing this, someone appears to have exploited the power of faith over people,” says Sathyanarayanan.
(With inputs from Cris)