A court in Rajasthan on Wednesday sentenced the self-styled godman, known as Falahari baba, to life imprisonment for raping a 21-year-old law student. The sentencing came a year after the controversial baba was arrested in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.
A 21-year-old woman had alleged in her complaint that the 70-year-old ‘godman’ sexually exploited her at his ashram in Rajasthan’s Alwar on 7 August.
Archana Jha, DSP, Bilaspur had said, “Her family is a disciple of Falahari babaso they told her to give it to baba. When she went to meet him, he told her to wait and then raped and threatened her. The parents came to us after the woman told them everything and we registered a case.”
The arrest of the self-styled baba evoked instant reactions on social media, where users were quick to highlight his proximity to BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The photos of the convicted ‘godman’ with Modi and other BJP leaders including Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath and Rajasthan chief minister, Vasundhara Raje Scindia had gone viral on social media media platforms.
This was not an isolated incident of self-proclaimed godmen targeting vulnerable women with intention to sexually assault them. Last year, Gurmeet Singh in Haryana was sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two of his followers.
The controversial godman had made every attempt to escape the police dragnet by repeatedly complaioning about poor health. On one occasion, he had complained of high blood pressure and managed to get himself admitted in a hospital. However, after the subsequent medical checkup, he was found to be normal.