CHENNAI: A 20-year-old college student died allegedly after consuming pesticide at an ashram in
Tiruvallur district
on Tuesday. Police are questioning self-styled godman Munusamy who has been treating her for various ailments for more than a year. The woman’s parents told police that they suspected foul play.
On Tuesday morning,
Hemamalini
, who was doing her BSc computer science at a private engineering college, began to vomit at the ashram and her aunt Indrani told Munusamy that she needed to be hospitalized. Munusamy arranged for an autorickshaw only after a couple of hours. At the
Tiruvallur
government hospital doctors said that she had consumed pesticide. She died without responding to the treatment. Her body has been sent for postmortem.
Munusamy has an ashram at Vellathukottai near Poondi and claims to cure ailments with poojas and herbal concoctions. Her parents had brought Hemamalini to the ashram in 2020 hoping for a cure to various chronic ailments she had such as stomach and neck aches. She had been staying there ever since, with Munusamy refusing to send her home even when offline classes began recently, police said.
Munusamy told her parents that she had some 'dosham' and that poojas had to be done during no moon and full moon days. She was also forced to attend late night poojas, her parents told police. Many people, mostly women, visit the ashram seeking blessings for early marriage. They even stay there to perform late night poojas.