Godman charged with rape in Rajkot

The police said the unidentified girl had in her statement to the Parishad said she went to Shastri to make a youth fall in love with her. Shastri said he would have to perform Supari Vidhi8217; and in the name of this vidhi8217;, he raped the girl twice. Shastri threatened the girl with dire consequences if she reported the matter to any one. The complaint said he took Rs 12,000 from the girl even before performing the pooja. The police said Kantibhai was originally from Pali in Rajasthan. He has six children in Pali.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vighyan Vadi Parishad, Rajkot had on Sunday raided business places of many godmen and reportedly detected cases of cheating and sexual harassment.

In all, there were about 20 such godmen operating in Rajkot who issued advertisements in vernacular dailies and claimed that they had the power to remove all hindrances and solve any problem in people8217;s lives.