Two people were arrested today in connection to an incident where a condom was found in a temple’s Hundi (Donation box) in Manguluru. The temple belonged to the local Manguluru deity Lord Koragajja who is seen as an avatar for Lord Shiva. The arrested have been identified as Raheem (32) and Taufiq (35) from Jokatte area in Mangalore.
Chiru Bhat, a local journalist, has chronicled the incident in the form of a Twitter thread.
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— Chiru Bhat | ಚಿರು ಭಟ್ (@mechirubhat) April 1, 2021
Recently few peacefuls urinated inside temple & had put condom in the Hundi Box of Mangaluru’s local deity Swami #Koragajja
Koragajja is also seen as avatar of Lord Shiva.
Incident happened not in one Temple, but in many.
People lodged complaint too.
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Addressing a press meet, police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that in the last three months, five cases have been registered at Ullal, Kadri, and Pandeshwar police stations over miscreants dropping objectionable items into the offering boxes of temples, including a condom at the Koragajja Katte temple. However, the police were not able to track down the culprits behind the desecration of the temples.
But suddenly after some time, the duo Raheem and Taufiq started going to the temple in order to pray for forgiveness from the priests. Initially, the priests thought the duo was making fun, but finally, they confessed their heinous crime at the temple and surrendered themselves to the people there who later turned them over to the police.
The reason why both Raheem and Taufiq were so scared that they went back to the temple to confess, was because the third and the main culprit, Nawaz, who had put the condom in the Hundi box in the first place, had died under mysterious circumstances. Soon after his crime, Nawaz started acting insane, which then turned into blood vomiting and dysentery. Finally, Nawaz died by banging his own head on a wall, his last words being that Lord Koragajja is angry with the culprits.
After the death of Nawaz, Taufiq also started suffering from similar symptoms like vomiting blood. This scared them so badly that they decided that they will be saved only if they confesses and seeks forgiveness for their crime.
But, no. They were serious. Because main guy Nawaz who had put condom in Hundi box started acting insane initially & soon that turned to blood vomit + dysentery and finally he died by banging his head to wall in his house. While dying he even told, Koragajja is angry on us.
— Chiru Bhat | ಚಿರು ಭಟ್ (@mechirubhat) April 1, 2021
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“Accused Raheem and Taufiq were in touch with the priest of a Koragajja Katte located at Yemmekere ground to confess their mistake. They were called during the ‘Nemotsava’ where they confessed about involving in the heinous act,” the police commissioner added.
“One more accused named Nawaz, who is the common friend of the other two accused, had come back from Dubai one and half years ago. In the last couple of months, he suffered severe health issues and passed away. Recently, the devotees carried out a walkathon from Kadri temple to Kutthar Koragajja Katte. Later, Taufiq also faced severe health issues like Nawaz. Out of fear, they decided to confess. Raheem and Taufiq used to accompany Nawaz to the Koragajja Katte to drop objectionable items in the offering box,” the police commissioner clarified.
“The objective behind the act is not yet known. We are probing it. As per the primary investigation, they have committed the act in three places. The modus operandi looks similar. We need to verify the handwritten content as well. Both the accused voluntarily contacted the priest to confess,” the police commissioner said.