Thiruvananthapuram: Vidya of Kayikkavila, who is accused of swindling 55 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs. 1.5 lakh in the guise of conducting black magic and pujas at Vellayani, has come out with an explanation. The gold was not stolen but was given by the owners for pawning, she said.

Vidya told Manorama that she was not conducting any pujas by pretending to be a godwoman.

Vidya, who admitted that the gold was with her, claimed that it was not stolen but was given by the complainants for paying the debt of the temple. Though she had gone to the house in Vellayani, no pujas were conducted. She is not a godwoman and the pujas were conducted in connection with the family temple. She said half of the amount of gold had been given back and that the rest of it would be returned on November 21.

It was Vinithu, daughter of Viswambharan of Kodiyil house, Sivodayam road, Vellayani in Nemam, who filed the complaint with the Nemam police over the issue.

Vinithu’s complaint was that a man and his daughter, hailing from Tamil Nadu, had cheated them of gold and money claiming to find a solution to a series of unnatural deaths in the family.

The incident happened over one and a half years ago.

The complainant said the accused had left the place after taking the gold and money from them and convincing them that it would be kept locked in the almirah and that they should take it out only after 15 days. In the meantime, the accused extended the time for opening the almirah by many months. But later, when they opened the almirah, it was empty, Vinithu said. She said petitions had been submitted to the Chief Minister, among others.

The Nemam police said that over half of the gold had been recovered from the accused and returned to the complainants after they said that they were not keen on going ahead with other legal measures and that they only wanted the stolen gold back.