The Alwar police on Friday took the 21-year-old woman, who has accused self-styled godman Kaushlendra Falahari Maharaj of rape, to his ashram where the incident allegedly took place and made maps of the place on the basis of her statement.
The woman, a native of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, arrived at Alwar along with her parents on Thursday evening after which she was interrogated by the police.
According to Alwar superintendent of police Rahul Prakash, no contradictions were found between her statement on Thursday and her earlier statement.
However, the police are yet to arrest the godman, who is admitted in a hospital since Wednesday. The hospital administration has repeatedly said that the Maharaj was healthy enough to be taken out of the facility. He was shifted to the general ward of the hospital from the ICU on Friday.
Maharaj, 70, commands a strong following and the delay in his arrest has raised speculation that police may be holding back due to political pressure.
The father of the victim on Friday said that more such cases will come up as the investigation progresses. “There are more such cases which will come up now. There are devotees associated with the godman who couldn’t come forward earlier because of fear, they will come up… Soon, the reality of the man will be revealed,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The father of the victim on Friday said that more such cases will come up as the investigation progresses. “There are more such cases which will come up now. There are devotees associated with the godman who couldn’t come forward earlier because of fear, they will come up… Soon, the reality of the man will be revealed,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He added that more such cases will come to the light from Rajasthan as well as other places such as Chhattisgarh.
The rape case was filed by a 21-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh, who said that she was encouraged by the rape conviction of another cult leader — Dera Sacha Sauda’s Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh — to come forward. The police case was registered in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur on September 11, and the files were brought to Alwar — Maharaj’s base — on September 20.