A former staffer of self-styled godman Ashokkumar Eknath Kharat may have been the key to unravelling one of Maharashtra’s most sensational exploitation scandals. On Sunday, he filed an FIR with the Nashik police alleging that Kharat had sexually assaulted a pregnant woman known to him and revealed that after learning of the assault, he secretly installed a hidden camera inside Kharat’s office cabin, gathered footage of multiple women being exploited, and eventually handed it over to the police.
The footage, submitted on a pen drive, allegedly shows women being given substances, appearing disoriented, after which Kharat engaged in inappropriate acts with them. Police said more than 100 video clips have been recovered so far which is significantly higher than initially suspected.
Hours later on Sunday, another woman filed an FIR alleging that Kharat repeatedly raped her between 2020 and 2026 on the pretext of performing religious rituals. She alleged that he claimed to have “divine powers”, made her consume substances as part of rituals, and threatened harm to her and her children to force her to comply. She further alleged that he impregnated her and later gave her pills that caused a miscarriage. She said she approached the police after coming across reports of similar allegations against him.
With Sunday’s two FIRs, a total of three cases have now been registered against Kharat in connection with allegations of sexual exploitation.
In his complaint, the former staffer, who joined Kharat’s office in 2019, said Kharat projected himself as possessing “divine powers” and that several influential persons visited the office.
He alleged that when couples visited, both were initially taken inside the cabin, after which the male partner was asked to step out and the woman was kept inside on the pretext of rituals. Women also visited alone.
According to the complaint, in 2023, a woman known to him who was pregnant was called to the office for a ritual meant to ensure safe delivery. After the staffer was asked to step out, she later told him that Kharat allegedly switched off the lights, asked her to close her eyes, hugged her and touched her inappropriately under the pretext of examining the unborn child. She resisted and left.
Story continues below this ad
He said he initially found it difficult to believe her due to the accused’s influence, but accepted her account after she insisted and swore on their unborn child, adding that she remained in distress for nearly a month. Following this, he began observing Kharat’s activities closely and what he found went well beyond the assault.
He alleged that under the guise of rituals, fraudulent practices were carried out. Tamarind seeds were cleaned and polished to resemble gemstones and sold as “energised” stones for amounts ranging from thousands to lakhs of rupees. Money from clients was also allegedly routed through a temple trust and personal accounts to convert unaccounted funds into legitimate money.
He then secretly installed a hidden camera inside the office cabin, extracted the footage onto a pen drive and submitted it to the police. The complainant stated that after he began refusing to cooperate in such activities, he was removed from his job in late 2024 and not paid his salary for two months. He further alleged that Kharat threatened to kill him and his family if the footage was not handed over.
The wider scandal had begun to surface in a different way. On December 29, 2025, Kharat himself filed an FIR at Vavi police station alleging he was being blackmailed using objectionable photos and videos and asked to pay Rs 5 crore. In February 2026, an associate of the accused was booked at Shirdi police station for allegedly creating morphed obscene images and issuing threats.
Story continues below this ad
Based on these developments, the state government constituted an SIT on March 13, 2026, before the sexual assault complaints surfaced. On March 17, a woman approached Sarkarwada police station alleging that Kharat had sexually assaulted her repeatedly between 2022 and 2025. An FIR was registered and he was arrested the same day. The Nashik case was transferred to the SIT on March 18, with officials citing interlinkages with earlier FIRs.
Searches have led to the recovery of cash, a weapon and property documents, with officials saying the documents indicate a network of assets linked to the accused and his family members, with the value likely running into several crores.
Across the FIRs, digital material has emerged as a common thread cited as alleged blackmail content in one case, morphed images in another, and the hidden camera footage in Sunday’s complaint. Investigators suspect the material may have been used to exert control or pressure, pointing to a possible pattern of coercion and systematic exploitation now under examination. Officials said they are also examining whether more women may have been targeted using similar methods.
