3 min readChennaiMar 20, 2025 11:01 AM IST
First published on: Mar 20, 2025 at 10:58 AM IST
A French woman on a spiritual pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai was allegedly sexually assaulted by a local tourist guide who led her to a secluded spot on a sacred hill under the pretext of meditation. Police said the accused, identified as 42-year-old Venkatesan, a resident of Tiruvannamalai town, was arrested near the Arunachaleswara temple following an investigation.
Authorities said he had misled the tourist, who is in her 40s, by convincing her that meditating on Arunachala Hills would grant her salvation. According to the police, the woman, who arrived in the temple town in January and had been staying at a private lodge, met Venkatesan while visiting various ashrams and pilgrimage sites.
On Monday, he allegedly took her to a restricted area of the hill maintained by the Forest Department, claiming it was an ideal place for meditation. There, he allegedly sexually assaulted her. The woman raised an alarm, attracting the attention of devotees and passersby on the Girivalam path, a circumambulatory route around the sacred hill frequented by pilgrims.
With their assistance, she fled and later contacted the French Consulate in Chennai. The consulate lodged a formal complaint with Tiruvannamalai Superintendent of Police M Sudhakar. The office of the SP said the case has been registered by the All Women Police Station in the town.
“Immediately, we formed special teams to identify the suspect. There were multiple witnesses who reported seeing the victim climbing the hills with a local man. We narrowed down the probe to five individuals who usually work as tourist guides, including the accused. The victim identified Venkatesan when he was paraded before her,” the officer said.
Soon after the police were alerted about the incident, the victim was taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai for a medical examination.
Tiruvannamalai, home to the historic Annamalaiyar Temple and the ashram of revered sage Ramana Maharishi, has long been a destination for spiritual seekers, particularly from the West. The town, with a dozen sacred sites, attracts thousands of visitors each year. Like Puducherry, Tiruvannamalai is also a place where foreigners stay for extended periods to practice meditation and yoga.
“Venkatesan is in police custody and we are probing if he engaged in similar crimes in the past,” the officer said.
On Monday, he allegedly took her to a restricted area of the hill maintained by the Forest Department, claiming it was an ideal place for meditation. 
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