Coimbatore: A priest was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually harassing a young woman while conducting special prayers to relieve her of stomach pain at a church in Sanganoor on Monday. The priest was remanded in judicial custody and lodged at Coimbatore central prison on Tuesday night. Police identified him as P Isaac alias Palanisamy, 57, from Saibaba Colony. He was a priest at the Church of Bethesda in Sanganoor.

The Thudiyalur police said, a 22-year-old woman from Madanga Kovilpatti near Alangulam in Virudhunagar district had been suffering from severe stomach pain for several years.

On Monday, the woman, with her relatives, went to the church where Isaac said he would arrange a special prayer. Later, the woman was asked to receive special prayers in a private chamber. Alone with her, the priest placed his hand on the woman’s abdomen and began a prayer. Subsequently, she was asked to remove her clothes. Suspecting something was amiss, she left the chamber.