Allegations of sexual assault and rape against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has brought back the focus on the religious leaders and self-styled godmen who have been mired in controversies.
Take a look at 7 such controversial religious leaders and self-styled godmen in India.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh
The controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief has been landing in controversies since 2002. On Friday, he was convicted by the Panchkula court in a 2002 rape case. He is named as an accused in two murder cases and castration of his 400 followers. Kamlesh Kumar from Jaipur, Rajasthan, has also filed a case against Singh, alleging that the DSS chief and his followers kidnapped his wife Guddi Devi.
Swami Amrita Chaitanya
Santhosh Madhavan alias Swami Amrita Chaitanya was arrested in 2008 for cheating a woman in the UAR of Rs 45 lakh.
He was convicted in three rape cases involving minors, a 22-year-old woman and for making pornographic videos. Amrita Chaitanya was sentenced to 16 years in jail and a penalty of Rs 2,10,000 in 2009.
Radhe Maa
The self-proclaimed godwoman had hit headlines in 2015 after videos of her "vulgar dance" went viral. Radhe Maa became a viral sensation because of her red dress, heavy jewellery and over-the-top makeup. She used to call herself 'avatar' of Goddess Durga. She was accused of running a sex racket in India. A 32-year-old woman filed an assault case against the god-woman and accused Radhe Maa of provoking her in-laws to harass her for dowry.
Asaram Bapu
The self-styled godman, who is currently in a Jodhpur jail, is accused of raping a teen at his Jodhpur ashram. He was arrested in 2013 in connection with the rape case involving a minor, but what was more shocking was when the eyewitnesses in the case were killed.
Asaram Bapu and his son Narayan Sai are also accused of being involved in deaths of minor children for occult practices.
He also received flak in 2012 when he said that the December 2016 rape victim in Delhi should have "called the accused as bhaiya and begged them to stop..to save her life." He later said, "Galti ek taraf se nahi hoti hai (mistakes do not happen from one side)."
Sant Rampal
Sant Rampal reportedly raised his army in 2014 to avoid arrest on murder charges. Thousands of his followers made a human shield near his ashram in Hisar to prevent his arrest. It took 20,000 security personnel to capture the self-styled godman. He was arrested on charges of murder, inciting mobs, and contempt of court.
The verdict in two criminal cases against Rampal will be delivered on August 29.
Swami Nithyananda
Swami Nithyananda was arrested in 2010 after a leaked video showing him in a sexual act with Tamil actress Ranjitha surfaced online. The godman defended himself by saying he was just practising "Shavasana" and that he is impotent. However, he was arrested in Himachal Pradesh.
The self-styled godman has cases of rape, criminal intimidation and cheating against him. A former disciple also accused the godman of raping her for several years. Reports even claimed that condoms, drugs and other contrabands were found at his ashram.
Chandraswami
Chandraswami, who died in May this year, shot to fame as an astrologer. He became close to then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and was allegedly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The Jain Commission report even has a volume on Chandraswami about his involvement in the murder conspiracy of Rajiv Gandhi.
