India: President Ram Nath, wife harassed, misbehaved during temple visit

NEW DELHI: In a shocking incident, President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind were ‘misbehaved with’ during their trip to Jagannath Temple in Odisha on March 18. The Puri district administration has initiated an investigation into the matter three months after the incident took place. A media said some servitors had obstructed the path of the President near the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum. The group had also shoved the First Lady, as per the minutes of a meeting occurred by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on March 20. The SJTA meeting had come a day after the Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a strong note to Puri collector Aravind Agarwal, lodging protest against the conduct of servitors. The incident was confirmed by SJTA chief administrator, IAS officer Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra. Mohapatra, however, refused to elaborate further. “We discussed the matter at a meeting of the temple managing committee a few days ago. It is being investigated,” he said.