Mumbai, March 23 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said on Monday that if women are being exploited in the name of divine powers and with the blessings of those in power, then this is the most serious issue. This statement came after the arrest of a self-proclaimed godman for rape.
Ashok Kharat, a "godman" based in Nashik, was arrested last week and is facing charges of raping and sexually exploiting women.
In a post on X, Thackeray said that Maharashtra has always stood against superstition and in favor of rationality.
He pointed out that an anti-superstition Bill was passed in the Maharashtra Assembly in December 2013.
Many of the MLAs who supported that Bill then are legislators today, and some of them might be involved in the Kharat case, the MNS leader maintained.
"This is a very unfortunate contradiction, and it shows how much Maharashtra has declined," he lamented.
"If women are being exploited in the name of divine powers and with the blessings of those in power, then this is the most serious issue. And if this is not stopped in time, then Maharashtra is doomed," Thackeray warned.