‘He said it would be a blessing…’: The horrific ‘assault’ of Indian-origin beauty queen by temple priest in Malaysia

An Indian-origin model and TV host, Lishalliny Kanaran, has accused a Hindu temple priest of molesting her under the pretext of offering a religious blessing in Malaysia.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Kanaran, who is also a former Miss Grand Malaysia, narrated her ordeal, alleging that the priest, on the pretext of blessing her, put his hands inside her blouse while splashing her with what he claimed was “holy water from India”.

The alleged assault, which took place inside a private room at the Mariamman Temple in Sepang district, has triggered a manhunt after the priest fled.

But who is Lishalliny Kanaran? What happened with her? Here’s what we know.

Who is Lishalliny Kanaran?

Lishalliny Kanaran is a Malaysian of Indian origin who was crowned Miss Grand Malaysia in 2021. A television host and actor by profession, she hails from Selangor and studied architecture before stepping into the world of pageantry.

Her journey in beauty contests began well before her win—she made it to the top 5 in both the 2019 and 2020 editions of Miss Grand Malaysia before finally taking home the crown in 2021.

She later went on to represent Malaysia at the Miss Grand International 2021 held in Thailand, where she placed among the top 10 finalists and also won the Best National Costume award.

Outside the pageant world, Lishalliny—often referred to as Lisha—has expressed interest in advocacy, especially around poverty and children’s education.

Active on Instagram, Lishalliny often shares moments in life. She currently has a following of over 92.5K on the platform.

In 2023, she featured in the Malaysian Tamil TV drama Jeeyum Neeyum, and more recently appeared in the web series Thigil, currently streaming on Astro Vinmeen, a local digital platform.

What happened with Lishalliny Kanaran?

Lishalliny Kanaran shared that she had been visiting the Mariamman Temple regularly in recent weeks to deepen her spiritual connection. But on June 21, she went alone, as her mother was away in India.

In a detailed Instagram post, she recounted that during her visit, the priest who usually guided her rituals approached her while she was praying. He offered to bless her with “holy water and a protective string.”

She says she waited over an hour for him, while he continued blessing other devotees. Eventually, he asked her to follow him to his private office, saying he would perform a special ritual.

“Even as I followed, something didn’t feel right. Something in my gut was uneasy,” she wrote.

Once inside the room, she described how the priest splashed a strong-smelling liquid into a bowl of water, claiming it was sacred and brought from India, not meant for “ordinary people”. “So much that my eyes stung and I couldn’t even open them,” she said.

He then allegedly told her to undress, saying it was “for her good”. When she refused, he scolded her for wearing tight clothes.

Things quickly took a disturbing turn. She says the priest moved behind her and put his hands inside her blouse, touching her inappropriately. “He said it would be a ‘blessing’ if I did ‘it’ with him because he serves God,” she wrote.

Frozen and terrified, she couldn’t respond. “My brain knew everything about that moment was wrong, and yet I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I froze. And I still don’t understand why,” she wrote.

“That betrayal is what cuts the deepest… I won’t go into more detail. But I was MOLESTED by that priest. And I couldn’t react.”

After the incident, she was left shocked and traumatised. She later told her mother upon returning to India, and a police complaint was filed on July 4.

However, when they returned to the temple, the priest was missing.

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“Apparently, the priest wasn’t there anymore. Someone had already reported him before for the same thing and yet no action had been taken,” she said, accusing the temple authorities of trying to protect their image instead of helping her.

Through her post, Kanaran emphasised that she did not want pity, but rather hoped that any other women who may have been abused by the same man would feel encouraged to speak out.

As of now, Malaysian police have launched a manhunt, and the investigation is ongoing.

With input from agencies