Godmen’s faith? What’s that? Unfortunately, that’s exactly where the spirituality of so-called religious Indians is standing right now. Jodhpur court has finally convicted self-styled godman Asaram. He is guilty of raping a minor girl at his ashram in 2013 and has been given life imprisonment.
After the original complaint from the child’s father was made, two other women devotees from Surat came forward and accused Asaram and his son Narayan Sai of rape and sexual assault. Narayan Sai was a senior functionary in Asaram’s spiritual empire.
Asaram has an unimaginable number of blind-followers. Although, Asaram isn’t the only godman who has a controversial history. Here are a few godmen who have not just hurt and fooled people but are also charged with sexual assault.
1. Swami Kaushlendra Prapannachari
Image Source: India Live Today
The 70-year-old self-styled godman was arrested by Alwar police on 21st September, for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman, who is a law student from Chhattisgarh. The woman is a daughter of one of his devotees of 15 years. The victim has reported that she was assaulted by the baba at his lavish ashram in Alwar, Rajasthan on August 7. The baba, as per her statement, had informed her that he couldn’t meet anyone during the lunar eclipse and had asked her to stay the night. The woman agreed to do so, and once she was in the ashram, the baba called her to his room at night and tried to assault her.
2. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh
Image Source: India.com
The self-styled godman, whose bhakts encouraged riots in Haryana and Delhi while he was in court. In August 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape and was eventually sentenced to 10 years in jail in Rohtak. After the verdict convicted him guilty, angry supporters went on a rampage during which 36 people were killed.
3. Mehndi Kasim
In April 2016, a Mumbai court convicted Mehendi Kasim for raping seven girls and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The 43-year-old self-styled godman was visted by four sisters who had mentally challenged sons and healthy daughters. He promised to cure their boys. He asked the mothers to send him their daughters as well for a treatment that would ensure they don’t give birth to mentally challenged children.
4. Santhosh Madhavan, alias Swami Amritha Chaitanya
In May 2009, a Kerala court convicted Madhavan for raping three minor girls. He lured the minor girls coming from poor families, confined them and assaulted them. He was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 2,10,000 in 2009. This self-styled godman is also accused of cheating a Dubai-based Indian woman of Rs. 40 lakh.
5. Narayan Sai
Asaram’s son Narayan Sai, who used to manage Asaram’s spiritual empire, is also in jail for allegedly raping a Surat-based disciple of his father between 2002 and 2005. She was allegedly raped when she was living at Asaram’s ashram. He has also been accused of having physical relations with eight other girls.
6. Gangananda Theerthapatha
A self-styled godman of an ashram in Kollam. Gangananda Theerthapatha was reportedly sexually exploiting a law student for five years on the pretext of conducting rituals. The woman managed to take her revenge on him by chopping his penis. Although Theerthapatha says he cut off his own penis as penance. Theerthapatha used to visit the woman’s family home in Thiruvananthapuram.
7. Swami Premananda
Image Source: Wikipedia
Premananda moved to India from Sri Lanka in 1984 to set up his ashram in Tiruchirappalli. After 10 years, in 1994, a young girl from the ashram accused him of raping her. In August 1997, Premananda and six of his accomplices were convicted of raping 13 minor girls.
8. Gnyanachaitanya
He was accused of three murders and has faced a jail time of 14 years for that. After his release, he met a British family and fooled them into believing that their daughter was his wife in a previous birth. He, then sexually abused and tortured the woman for years. After she escaped and complained to her parents and the police, Gnyanachaitanya was arrested again.
Godman days are gone, have got no reason to trust them.
Featured Image Source: The Indian Express
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