© The New Indian ExpressAravazhi Siddhar.
For residents of BV Colony in Vyasarpadi, the name Aravazhi Siddhar stood for an extremely religious man, until he was recently arrested for abusing a 14-year-old girl and forcing her into prostitution in connivance with her mother.
The agony faced by the young girl, who had escaped to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and was selling mangoes to escape from the hands of her tormentors, may have come as a rude shock for many in the city, but for those in BV Colony, what is more shocking is the dark side of their 'Siddhar'.
"He always wore saffron dhoti and his
appearance used to be pious. Even though he was known as an astrologer, he was reputed for his special
poojas.
We always called him Siddhar and no one knew what his actual name was," said Kamaraj, a local resident and his regular patron.
According to the CB-CID officials, it was the astrologer, who first abused the minor girl and later referred her to two women pimps who started regularly forcing her into flesh trade after administering narcotics.
"It is surprising how such incidents took place without raising any suspicion in this thickly populated area. My house is just adjacent to the hut and even if there is any minor commotion, it can't go unnoticed," said a neighbour of the astrologer.
Siddhar was residing in the same hut for last 15 years. The interiors of the hut resembled like a mini "ashram" as locals refer to this hut.
Comment: We sort of agree with the British government in this instance. Ignore the anti-fracking movement. In fact, ignore all environmentalist movements. They are riddled with police informants and are often set up by the British government in the first place to distract and separate people into manageable units.
If you are going to protest, protest as one voice against ALL government corruption in ALL forms. The only thing they will listen to is a united front, although even then be warned they are prepared to go to extremely violent lengths to defend their privileges, as we're currently seeing in Egypt.
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