Chennai: A 20-year-old college student who had been reportedly living in an ashram and receiving treatment for her ailments from a self-styled godman for more than a year died after consuming pesticide on Tuesday. In a complaint to the police, the woman's parents are learnt have said they suspected foul play.
According to a report in the Times of India, the police have started questioning the self-styled godman, Munusamy, based on the parents' complaint.
The victim was Hemamalini, who was a student of BSc Computer Science at a private college. On Tuesday, she started vomiting at the ashram and she was taken to hospital after Munusamy arranged for an auto after a few hours.
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Hemamalini was taken to the Tiruvallur Government Hospital where doctors said she had consumed pesticide. A few hours later, she died without responding to treatment and the body was sent for an autopsy, the report said.
Munusamy has an ashram in Vellathukottai near Poondi. According to the report, the self-styled godman used to claim that he can cure the ailments of people by doing poojas and offering his concoctions. In 2020, Hemamalini's parents first brought her to the ashram to get her treated for her stomach aches and neck pains. The godman allegedly told her to stay in the ashram for her treatment, and she had been staying there since then.
Munusamy reportedly refused to send her back home even when online classes started. It is learnt that he apparently told her parents that she had a "dosam", and that she should be available during the poojas done on new-moon and full-moon days.
She was also reportedly forced to stay up for late-night poojas, the parents told the police.