CHENNAI: The city police have registered a case against a temple priest on complaint from a 27-year-old woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her under the pretext of offering spiritual help to resolve her family issues.

Sources said that the complainant, a married woman, regularly visits the temple in Pallikaranai, where she got acquainted with the priest, Ashoka Bharathi.

On learning about the woman's personal issues, the priest offered to ward off evil spirits and took her to the Murugan temple in Vadapalani for a ritual. As the temple was closed at noon on the day she went, the priest allegedly took her to a relative's house nearby where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

While Vadapalani All Women Police Station (AWPS) has registered a case based on the woman's complaint, the priest alleged that when the woman's husband took photos of them together and tried to extort Rs 10 lakh from him.

Both complaints are being investigated, police said.