Fatehbad, July 21: Haryana police arrested 60-year-old Baba Amarpuri, a mahant or chief priest at Balaknath temple in Fatehabad’s Tohana, after videos of him allegedly raping women surfaced online, reports news agency.
Police say “suspicious articles” have been seized from his house during a raid in his temple and house.
“We have recovered many videos, have filed a case and have started an investigation in the matter,” the police said, adding that the accused has been send to police remand for five days.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Jogind Sharma told news agency that the videos where Baba Amarpuri allegedly raped the women is doing the rounds in the town and he appealed people not to circulate such videos as it’s a “criminal act”.
According to reports, Baba Amarpuri is locally known as Billu. He reportedly used to rape women and make their video clips to blackmail them. Baba Amarpuri has reportedly denied allegations against him saying, he’s being “framed”, say reports.
This is not the first time that a self-styled godman has sexually exploited women. Asaram, with a following that runs into lakhs, was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl whose family brought her to visit his ashram in Jodhpur. Similarly, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of two saadhvis at the Dera Sacha Sauda ashram in Haryana’s Sirsa.
Source NDTV.com
