The Star
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 6, 2003: Misusing his sacred position, a priest serving in an Amman temple in Malaysia has been accused of knowingly deceiving devotees into giving him money and jewelry in exchange for communicating with dead relatives. He then allegedly proceeded to enact bogus encounters with living relatives and the deceased and often conned survivors into giving the Goddess more money to ward off other unfortunate circumstances in the family. One of the victims, R. Letchumanan explains, “The priest got me interested when he told me he had made arrangements for me to speak with my son, who died three months before that, through Amman.” During the encounter, the Letchumanan family were asked by what they thought was their dead son to return with more money and a gold chain. The priest informed them that they must comply with their son’s request, and, if they failed, another death would occur in the family. T. Mohan, MIC Youth Welfare committee chairman, has assisted families who have fallen victim to the priest and complaints have been filed with the police.