Bhaiyyu Maharaj suicide: 3 caretakers including Palak Pauranik get 6 years jail | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Bhaiyyu Maharaj suicide: 3 caretakers including Palak Pauranik get 6 years jail

Jan 29, 2022 02:46 AM IST

Bhaiyyu Maharaj suicide: Palak Pauranik, who was on his staff at his sprawling ashram in Indore, was blackmailing the spiritual leader and threatened to file rape charges if he didn’t comply with her demands.

BHOPAL: Three sewadars including his aide Palak Pauranik on Friday were sentenced to six years in jail for abetment to suicide and extortion that led to the death of self-styled spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj in Indore in 2018, the public prosecutor said.

Self-styled spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj aka Udaysinh Deshmukh died by suicide on June 12, 2018.
Self-styled spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj aka Udaysinh Deshmukh died by suicide on June 12, 2018.

Indore’s additional sessions judge Dharmendra Soni convicted the three to six years imprisonment for abetting suicide and two years for extortion, said Gajraj Singh Solanki, the additional public prosecutor.

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According to the prosecution, Palak Pauranik, 25, was pressuring Bhaiyyu Maharaj aka Udaysingh Deshmukh, 50, to marry her and threatened to file rape charges against him if he didn’t comply

During the investigation, police found that after Bhaiyyu Maharaj’s second marriage in 2017 - his first wife had died two years earlier - Palak was blackmailing Bhaiyyu Maharaj to marry her too. Palak had shot some explicit videos with Bhaiyyu Maharaj and threatened to implicate him in a rape case. And the two sewadars or caretakers, Vinayak Dudhade, 42, and Sharad Deshmukh, 34, were helping her extort money

In the case, forensic officer Tilak Raj of Bhopal presented 109 pages of chat records from Palak Purnik’s phone as the primary evidence to support the prosecution charge of abetment to suicide and extortion. As many as 32 eyewitnesses including Bhaiyyu Maharaj’s wife Ayushi and daughter Kuhu were examined by the prosecution during the trial.

In one of the last messages that she sent, Palak told Bhaiyyu Maharaj to either marry her by June 16, 2018 or face rape charges.

Bhaiyyu Maharaj shot himself with a licensed firearm on June 12, 2018, four days before the deadline was to end, said the prosecutor, Gajraj Singh Solanki. In a note, he said he was stressed out and fed up.

According to the police, Palak Pauranik’s insistence on marrying Bhaiyyu Maharaj was linked to his wealth.

Born Udaysingh Deshmukh in a farming family, Bhaiyyu Maharaj, as his followers called him, worked as a model for a textile company before styling himself into a spiritual leader, who led a flashy lifestyle, often seen sporting a Rolex watch and driving a Mercedes.

Bhaiyyuji was popular in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, and beyond, and had hosted high-profile visitors including former president Pratibha Patil, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray

In 2011, the then Congress government even asked him to mediate on their behalf with social worker Anna Hazare – who was fasting at Delhi’s Ramlila Grounds to demand the Lokpal Bill. Later, in September, Narendra Modi (who was then the Gujarat chief minister) invited him to his three-day Sadbhavana fast in Ahmedabad.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    She is a senior reporter based at Bhopal. She covers higher education, social issues, youth affairs, woman and child development related issues, sports and business & industries.

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