Nashik, Apr 9 Jailed self-proclaimed godman and astrologer Ashok Kharat was arrested in a third case of rape and produced via video link before a court in Maharashtra's Nashik district, which on Thursday sent him to five-day police custody.
In the third case, Kharat, who was first arrested in mid-March, is accused of sexually exploiting a seven-month pregnant woman, the wife of his office staffer.
On April 8, Kharat was remanded to 14-day judicial custody till April 21 in the second rape case.
As a result, he was sent to the Nashik Road Central Jail. However, during the hearing of the second case, the state government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing multiple offences against the 'godman', filed an application seeking his custody in another (third) case of sexual assault.
After the court allowed the application, an SIT team took Kharat's custody from the Nashik jail and produced him before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) B N Ichpurani, which sent him to police remand till April 13.
Due to security reasons, the court proceedings were held through video conferencing and the accused, a Nashik district resident who claims to be a former merchant navy officer, was not produced before the CJM in person.
During arguments on remand plea, public prosecutor Shailendra Bagde, who represented the SIT, pleaded that there was need for more inquiry in the third case and sought Kharat's police custody for interrogation.
He added that in the third case, the astrologer raped a seven-month pregnant woman under the pretext of performing a ritual for good progeny.
Bagde submitted that police still have to find out from where Kharat procured toy snakes and tigers to scare his customers.
Also, investigation of his financial transactions were yet to be done, the SIT lawyer contended and sought seven-day custody of the accused.
However, defence lawyer Sachin Bhate pleaded that all things mentioned by police in the plea have been investigated earlier and there was no need for fresh police custody of his client.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court remanded Kharat to five-day police custody.
In the beginning of the hearing, the CJM asked the 'godman' if he had anything to say, to which he replied in the negative.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim's husband, who was an employee in the office of Kharat, the accused sexually assaulted the survivor on multiple occasions, including in his office in Nashik, between November 2023 and December 2025.
Her ordeal continued even when the woman seven-month pregnant, alleged the complaint.
Kharat also conducted a ritual with the pregnant woman at a temple in Mirgaon village of Sinnar taluka of the district, it said.
Though the victim informed her husband about her plight, he did not believe her in the beginning. But when he heard about complaints of Kharat's misbehaviour with other women also, he planted a spy camera in the astrologer's office to find out the truth and recorded his acts.
When Kharat came to know this, he threatened the employee with dire consequences. The same employee, working with Kharat since 2019, later handed over to police a pen drive containing objectionable videos of the 'godman'.
Investigating officer Amol Bharti gave details about the case to the court during hearing on the remand plea.
Kharat faces nearly a dozen cases, eight of them related to sexual assaults.