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SIT files chargesheets against Kharat in two sexual abuse cases
SIT on Wednesday filed chargesheets before Nashik court against arrested self-styled godman Ashok Kharat in the first two sexual abuse cases registered against him at Sarkarwada police station
NASHIK: The special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday filed chargesheets before a Nashik court against arrested self-styled godman Ashok Kharat in the first two sexual abuse cases registered against him at Sarkarwada police station.
The FIRs were registered on March 17 and March 21 following complaints by two women who alleged that Kharat sexually abused them after they approached him seeking guidance and help for a better future. In the first complaint, the survivor alleged that Kharat raped her multiple times between 2022 and 2025.
The Nashik city police had arrested Kharat from his residence on March 18. Subsequently, the state government constituted a 24-member SIT headed by IPS officer Tejaswi Satpute that began its investigation on March 21.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the SIT said it had examined the two complainants and 105 witnesses in connection with the first two cases. The chargesheets together run into more than 2,000 pages.
“The SIT has obtained oral, physical, documentary, circumstantial and electronic evidence against the accused in both cases,” the statement said.
During the investigation, the SIT allegedly found that Kharat exploited the faith of victims and their families and extorted money by forcing them to purchase items such as stones, tamarind seeds and rudraksha beads from him at exorbitant prices, besides performing various religious rituals.
“He lured women by claiming to possess divine powers, threatened them with the death of family members or defamation, and subjected them to sexual exploitation,” the SIT statement added.
Investigators alleged that Kharat deceived women into believing he had supernatural powers by creating illusions through sleight of hand in darkness within the premises of the Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple in Sinnar, thereby promoting superstition.
“A supplementary chargesheet will be filed if further evidence emerges,” the statement added.
The SIT is probing 11 cases related to Kharat — eight pertaining to sexual exploitation, one involving alleged financial fraud, and two related to false extortion cases allegedly filed by Kharat against complainants.
Apart from these, Nashik city police are probing three more fraud cases against him, while Nashik rural police are investigating two similar cases. Separately, Ahilyanagar police are probing three cases against Kharat.
