‘Godman’ Kharat Held in 8th Abuse Case, Sent to Jail as Remand Denied
Nashik: Police detained self-proclaimed godman and astrologer Ashok Kharat in the eighth case of sexual exploitation of women and produced him in the Nashik district court, which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the police request for his remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Nashik police in north Maharashtra had approached the court seeking custody of Kharat in the eighth case.
After the court gave the necessary permission, the SIT detained Kharat, who was in prison in connection with the seventh sexual abuse case filed against him.
The ‘godman’, named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, appeared before Chief Justice BN Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing for security reasons.
According to the police, the eighth case involved Kharat allegedly sexually abusing a woman who had approached him for solutions to her family problems.
At the hearing, the prosecutor’s office requested that the defendant be detained in the police in the last case.
However, the defense strongly opposed this request and argued that the SIT gave the same reasons for detention every time and there was no strong reason to accept the plea.
The court accepted the argument put forward by the defense and placed Kharat under judicial custody until May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will take Kharat to court again on Friday and seek his remand in police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take custody of him from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat’s judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. In the fourth sexual abuse case against women heard on April 18, the defendant was sentenced to judicial detention until April 30.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search of Kharat’s office in the ‘Canada Corner’ area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A ‘panchnama’ (record of search and seizure) was carried out and the office was again locked and sealed.
Kharat, a wealthy man with political connections, was first arrested on March 18 after a woman alleged that he raped her repeatedly over three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting numerous women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, as well as committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting an investigation into 12 cases of sexual abuse and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
