Nashik, April 2 A court in Maharashtra's Nashik district remanded self-proclaimed religious leader Ashok Kharat in police custody for seven days on Thursday in a second case of rape, in which he is accused of sexually exploiting a woman on multiple occasions since 2020, under the guise of religious rituals.
Kharat, who was arrested by a Special Investigation Team on Wednesday in the second case of rape, appeared before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani via video conference from jail, who ordered his custody until April 8.
The "religious leader," a former officer in the merchant navy, was in judicial custody for 14 days in the first case of rape and was held at the Nashik Road Central Jail from where he was taken into custody by the SIT.
Kharat was arrested on March 17 after a 35-year-old woman filed a rape complaint against him at the Sarkarwada police station in Nashik district in north Maharashtra.
Accordingly, a case was registered against him under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.
The victim in the second case had been in contact with Kharat since 2013 when she first met him on the advice of a relative to fix her marriage. Even after the marriage, he was in contact with the woman under the pretext of providing solutions to her family problems and sexually exploited her, according to the complaint.
The woman, who has two children from the marriage, later separated from her husband due to marital differences. When she again contacted Kharat to discuss her future and remarriage prospects, he started sexually exploiting her, the woman alleged in the complaint.
He called her to his office and raped her under the pretext of religious rituals. When she became pregnant, he gave her pills and forced her to abort her pregnancy, according to the complaint.
Kharat sexually exploited the woman since February 2020 and threatened to destroy her and her children's lives if she resisted his moves, it said.
After Kharat's misdeeds came to light following the registration of the first rape case, the woman mustered courage and lodged a police complaint on March 21.
Due to security reasons, the court proceedings were held through video conferencing on Thursday and Kharat was not produced in person.
During arguments, public prosecutor Shailendra Bagde, representing the SIT, said the accused was not cooperating in the investigation and sought his custody.
Defence lawyer Sachin Bhate, however, opposed the demand for Kharat's custody, but the court overruled him and allowed the SIT plea.
During the hearing, when the judge asked Kharat whether he had anything to say, he replied in the negative.
At least 10 FIRs – eight for alleged sexual assault or exploitation of women and two for cheating – have been registered against Kharat, while the SIT probing allegations against him has received more than 100 complaints over the phone against him.
A cheating case linked to a land deal was registered with the Shirdi police in Ahilyanagar district against Kharat and his wife on Monday. Kharat's wife has been absconding since then.
On Wednesday, an SIT team detained Kharat's son Harshvardhan for questioning from their residence in Karmayogi Nagar in Nashik. He was let off at night.
The "religious leader" heads a temple trust at Sinnar in Nashik district and had met several political leaders over the years.
Last week, the SIT visited Kharat's office in Nashik along with a forensic science team, from where they recovered several documents, files and other evidence.
Notably, a 20-feet remote-controlled mechanised snake was also seized from his office. Kharat allegedly used the snake to make his visitors believe that he could control a live snake and thus possessed supernatural powers.
