Mirchi Baba held from Gwalior hotel on rape charges

According to the police, the woman came in contact with Mirchi Baba in July over the phone and on July 17, he called her over to his residence in Bhopal.

Mirchi Baba was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police (File Photo)

Controversial godman Mahamandleshwar Swami Vairagyanand Giri, popularly known as Mirchi Baba, was arrested Tuesday by the Madhya Pradesh Police for allegedly raping a woman on the pretext of helping her conceive a child. A joint team from Bhopal and Gwalior arrested Mirchi Baba in the wee hours of Tuesday from Gwalior, a day after an FIR was registered against him at Bhopal’s Mahila police station.

According to police officials, the 28-year-old woman, a resident of Bhopal, had been married for over four years but could not conceive. “She got the number of a godman from somewhere and called up. The number belonged to an associate of Mirchi Baba who put the woman in touch with Mirchi Baba,” said a police officer requesting anonymity.

According to the police, the woman came in contact with Mirchi Baba in July over the phone and on July 17, he called her over to his residence in Bhopal. “She sought permission from her husband and went to meet him. There she was given some bhubhuti (sacred ash) and asked to consume some sabudana (sago) provided by Mirchi Baba and asked to wait for him in his room upstairs,” the officer added. In her complaint, the woman further said that soon after consuming the sabudana, she fell unconscious and woke up a few hours later to find herself naked and Mirchi Baba lying next to her, the officer added.

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The woman also complained of pain in her private parts. According to the woman, when she confronted Mirchi baba he threatened her of dire consequences and mocked her by saying, “I just helped you get a child.” The woman returned home but did not inform her husband or any other family member about the incident. “A week later, when she was confiding what happened in a relative, the conversation was overheard by her husband who then threw her out of the home,” the officer said.

The woman finally approached the Mahila police station and registered an FIR. The FIR was registered under Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

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A team of Bhopal police left for Gwalior where Mirchi Baba was staying. Speaking to The Indian Express, Gwalior Superintendent of Police Amit Sanghi said, “We received information from Bhopal Police of an FIR against Mirchi Baba and a team of crime branch in Gwalior arrested him from outside Hotel Narayanum where he was staying for a religious programme.”

Mirchi Baba rose to prominence after he performed a sacred hawan in Bhopal using over one quintal red chillies for the electoral victory of Digvijay Singh ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He had also said that he would take a ‘jal samadhi’ if Digvijay Singh loses the election. Known for his controversial statement, Mirchi Baba hit the headlines in August after he attacked Union minister Smriti Irani over her “silence” on rising prices, and a bar controversy in Goa.

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