Nashik court sends self-styled godman Kharat to three-day police custody in sixth sexual assault case

A court in Nashik on Friday remanded selfstyled godman Ashok Kharat to police custody till Sunday in the sixth case of sexual exploitation registered against him news agency PTI reportedKharat who was arrested on March 18 is accused of sexually exploiting several women and committing largescale financial fraud by claiming to possess divine powers and knowledge of black magicIn the sixth case the former Merchant Navy officer allegedly sexually exploited a young woman who had approached him seeking solutions to her personal problemsPolice said Kharat allegedly threatened the woman warning her that he would use his ldquodivine powersrdquo to destroy her family He also allegedly collected Aadhaar PAN card and other documents of her family membersThe Special Investigation Team SIT probing 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against Kharat in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts had on Thursday filed an application before the court seeking his custody in the sixth caseFollowing the courtrsquos permission the SIT took his custody and produced him before the court on Friday in the sixth caseFor security reasons the proceedings were conducted via video conferencing during which police sought four days of custodyThe prosecution told the court that the accused had allegedly administered a sedative to the victim mixed in water and raped her It also said he made her perform certain rituals and that the financial angle in the case needs to be investigatedKharatrsquos lawyer Sachin Bhate argued that the police were examining the same circumstances across multiple cases and were repeating similar grounds while seeking custody in each caseHowever SIT officer Ravindra Manjre told the court that the victims and time frames were different in each case and a dedicated team had been formed for detailed investigationAfter hearing both sides Chief Judicial Magistrate BN Ichpurani remanded Kharat to police custody till April 26 in the sixth caseAnother selfstyled godman booked in Nashik over sexual exploitation allegationsAmid the ongoing probe into the Ashok Kharat case Nashik Police in Maharashtra have registered an FIR against another selfstyled godman for allegedly sexually exploiting a 28yearold womanThough the alleged incidents took place in 2024 the woman approached police after receiving counselling from activists of the antisuperstition organisation Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ANS an official saidBased on her complaint police on Wednesday registered a case against Maheshgiri alias Mahesh Dilip Kakde 31According to the complaint the woman had been facing personal problems following which her parents took her to a mutt known as Prati Gangapur at Dharangaon Khadak village near LasalgaonThe accused who allegedly claimed to possess divine powers told the family that the woman had been affected by ldquoKarnirdquo black magic and asked them to perform certain rituals the official said on ThursdayPolice said Kakde later allegedly began sending obscene messages to the woman took her to a lodge in Nashik city and sexually exploited herThe woman further alleged that the accused clicked objectionable photographs of her and threatened her with dire consequences if she complained to policeWith PTI inputs