A few photos are being shared widely on social media with a claim that Chamarajanagar Superintendent of Police (SP) Divya Sara Thomas has forced the priest of an Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Kollegal to place the Jesus photo inside the Sanctorum of the temple and offer pooja to it. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Chamarajanagar SP Divya Sara Thomas has forced a Temple priest to offer pooja to a Jesus photo.
Fact: The temple priest has clarified that the SP has not forced him to do pooja to the Jesus photo. As she is Christian, she was gifted with the Jesus photo on her visit to the temple. The priest apologized if any Hindu was hurt due to his actions. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we looked for information regarding the incident in the photo, some Kannada news articles were found in the search results. In the ‘Prajavani’ article, it can be read that the incident in the photos took place on 05 August 2020 (the day foundation stone of Ayodhya Ram Mandir was laid). When SP Divya Sara Thomas was on rounds, she was invited by the priest into the temple. As she is a Christian, the Jesus photo was placed in the sanctum sanctorum and she was gifted with the photo on her visit to the temple.
The clarification by the priest can be watched here. The priest apologized if any Hindu was hurt due to his actions.
Also, the Karnataka State Police Department on their fact-check portal clarified saying – ‘On realizing that the new SP is from a different faith the priest after completing the puja rituals gifted her a photo of Jesus Christ along with photos of hindu deities also. The SP has not forced the priest or the devotees to offer archana for Jesus Christ nor did she carry any photos on her person to the temple. The photos of the incident have been misinterpreted and is being circulated in social media with incorrect information.’
Speaking to ‘The News Minute’, SP Divya Sara Thomas said – ‘This is done by some elements intending to make mischief. My husband is a Hindu and I am Christian. I had gone to the temple but did not force the priest to perform puja’.
To sum it up, while the incident of placing Jesus photo inside the temple sanctorum is true, SP Divya Sara Thomas has neither brought the Jesus photo with her nor forced the temple priest to offer pooja to it.
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