Just a few days ago, a 21-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh filed a rape case against Kaushalendra Prapannacharya, popularly known as Falahari Maharaj. The Alwar, Rajasthan, based self-styled godman had reportedly raped her in August this year when the woman went to the ashram to donate her first stipend of Rs 3,000 that she had earned from her internship.
While she finally opened up on the case and filed a formal complaint, more details are now trickling in. The victim, who is a law student, said that the godman asked her to lick his tongue, as part of a ritual he uses to impart knowledge before he sexually assaulted her. "I am writing Om on my tongue with honey and you will have to lick it. This is how I have imparted knowledge to many people, the Maharaj told me. He then grabbed me," she said in the FIR, according to Hindustan Times.
She detailed the events of the day in the FIR and said that she had gone to his ashram just to donate the money and intended to return home the same day. However, she was asked to stay the night and was called to Falahari's room where he assaulted her.
"I went blank and could not react. He told me that he has made many people IAS, IPS and MLA and will make me a judge but asked what I will give him in return," she said. "Maharaj then made me lie on the bed and said he was doing all this on instructions from god."
The godman even told the woman that when she gets married, he would get her a son if she promised to sleep with him before consummating her marriage. "He said you don't have a brother and your mother is too old now ... I can get you a son if you promise to sleep with me when you get married before consummating your wedding."
She was then advised to stay away from boys, as they would mislead her.
The FIR also reveals that during her ordeal, there was a knock on the door, after which Falahari "hastily arranged his robes" and threatened the woman with consequences if she ever spoke of the assault to anyone.
She was reportedly dropped to the railway station the next morning and went back home to Chhattisgarh, where she was again intimidated by his disciples at the Bilaspur ashram.
While she did reveal the incident to her family, who are devout followers of the godman, she gathered the courage to file an FIR only after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. "The woman has said in the complaint that following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, she got courage and decided to report the matter to the police," HT quoted Shishram Meena, station house officer, Aravali Vihar police station of Alwar, as saying.
