KOTA: A 55-year-old priest in a temple in Rajasthan's Bundi district allegedly committed suicide by stabbing himself with a trident, police said on Wednesday. Confirming the incident, SHO Gendoli Police Station said that Ramesh Goswami, a resident of Bhanskheda village, stabbed himself in stomach with the temple trident on late Tuesday night.
The reason behind suicide is not yet clear, he said, however the police has lodged a case of unnatural death under section 174 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) and has begun an investigation to ascertain the actual reason of death.
The priest had been serving at Tilbhandeshwar temple for the last 11 years and lived with his wife in a nearby Dharmshala, he said.
According to his wife, Goswami had gone to the temple to lock it around 8 pm Tuesday.
When he did not return till late night, she at around 11 pm went to the temple to look for him, where she found him with a deep wound in his stomach and a blood-stained trident lying by him on the floor, the SHO said.
The priest was immediately rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead, he added.
His body was handed over the body to family members after a post mortem by the medical board on Wednesday morning, the police officer said.
Meanwhile, the priest's son alleged that his father was murdered by a rival group.
He cited a dispute between his father and members of the temple management committee as the possible cause of the murder.
