HC upholds 10-year term for ‘godman’ for raping woman

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has upheld a 10-year prison term for a self-proclaimed godman for raping a childless woman who had visited him to perform some rituals

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has upheld a 10-year prison term for a self-proclaimed godman for raping a childless woman who had visited him to perform some rituals to help her conceive.

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Justice AIS Cheema said the guilt of 50-year-old Naval More, who was known as ‘ maharaj’ in Sindhkheda tehsil of Dhule district, was established beyond reasonable doubts

The incident took place in April 2013 when the survivor and her husband visited the ‘godman’. The visit came after the husband had learnt that his friend’s wife conceived owning to a ‘bath’ given by More. On their third visit in April 2013, the couple went to the residence of the fake godman and stayed overnight.

Early in the morning, the guilty took the woman to a secluded place for the ‘holy bath’ and raped her.

The police arrested More after the woman lodged a complaint and on December 26, 2014, a trial court in Dhule convicted him for raping the woman and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

More later approached the high court, contending that he was implicated after differences cropped between him and the couple over fees issue. He, through his counsel, highlighted that there was no medical and forensic evidence to corroborate the woman’s allegation.

The high court, however, noted that a delay of a few days in medical and forensic tests could not show whether she was raped. Justice Cheema upheld More’s conviction primarily on the strength of the woman’s testimony.