- A woman has accused the head priest of Madhavraiji temple of raping her for one and half years
- The priest has been identified as Rishibapu Rajangiri Goswami
- In her complaint, the 25-year-old said that Goswami had promised to marry her
- The priest has now been booked for rape, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt
In yet another incident of crime against women in India, the head priest of Gujarat's renowned Madhavraiji temple was booked by the police, after a woman said that he had raped her for over a year and half promising that he would marry her. The priest has been identified as Rishibapu Rajangiri Goswami.
The woman had complained about the rape through an application to the deputy superintendent of police (Veraval Division) on May 23, in which she said that the priest had been raping her since August 2016.
The woman, said to be around 25-years-old, married a man from the Prachi village about six years ago and came in contact with Goswami when she visited the Madhavraiji temple for darshan. But the duo reportedly got closer only around August 2016.
"Goswami then trapped me in an affair, promised to marry me and demanded physical relationship. However, I refused any such favour before marriage. But he forced himself on me and raped me inside the head priest's room above the temple," the Indian Express quoted the woman as saying in her complaint.
The priest did not stop at that and reportedly continued raping her for over one and half years. When she insisted that he marry her, Goswami told her that marriage would be possible only after the 25-year-old divorced her husband.
"Consequently, I divorced my husband...However, he told me that he would marry me later and raped me again," she explained in the complaint.
She further revealed that Goswami took her to the temple on May 7 and asked for sexual favours, once again promising to marry her. "However, I refused. This irked Goswami and he started abusing me and beating me."
Based on this complaint, a case has been registered and Goswami has now been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).
"We have booked Goswami for rape and Talala circle police inspector AP Solanki has been assigned the investigation," the Times of India quoted MP Pandya, police sub-inspector, as saying.
