Sexual harassment can be an extremely traumatic experience. What makes it even more distressing is when the perpetrator is someone the victim knows and trusts. Regardless of whether you’re a public figure or an ordinary person, no one is immune to such violations.
Sadly, actress, model, and former Miss Grand Malaysia Lishalliny Kanaran recently experienced such an incident at a temple, where the perpetrator was allegedly one of the priests. Here’s her story:
Earlier this week, Lishalliny Kanaran bravely spoke out about a recent traumatic experience she endured at Mariamman Temple Salak Tinggi. She shared that, although she was never particularly religious, she wanted to reconnect with her faith, so she began returning to the temple to relearn the prayers and rituals. During her visits, a priest had been guiding her on this spiritual journey. “I’m new to all of this. I don’t know much, and I’ve always appreciated his help,” she wrote.
On 21st June, while her mother was away in India, the same priest offered her holy water and a protective string as a blessing. He then asked her to meet him once she had completed her prayers. After waiting for an hour and a half, the priest allegedly led her to his office, and that was when she began to feel uneasy, sensing that something was not right.
When they were alone in his office, she said the priest instructed the model to sit before pouring a strong-smelling, floral-scented liquid over her. “He said it was from India, and that they usually don’t give it to ‘ordinary people’. He kept splashing the water on my face, so much that my eyes stung and I couldn’t even open them,” she recounted. That’s when things took a turn for the worse. The priest then allegedly instructed her to lift her Punjabi suit, which she refused to do since her blouse underneath was tight.
She said the priest was angered and became aggressive, and put his hands under her blouse, inappropriately touching her while claiming that she would be blessed because he was a man of God. Feeling betrayed by the very priest and temple where she had sought peace, Lishalliny managed to break free and return home. Once her mother returned on 4th July, the beauty queen then confided in her family about what had happened, and they accompanied her to lodge a police report.
Unfortunately, when the police arrived to investigate, the temple management claimed they were unaware of the perpetrator’s whereabouts. To make matters worse, the authorities allagedly advised Lishalliny not to share anything on social media. “I’m not writing this to victimise myself. I’m writing this to voice out so that anyone else who has gone through something like this knows: you are not to blame. If I kept quiet, who else would speak up?” she said. At the time of writing, there is currently no update on the actress’ case.
Read her full story here:
Source: Instagram
