Godman accused of rape surrenders

A controversial godman,who was on the run for months after a college student accused him of raping her...

A controversial godman,who was on the run for months after a college student accused him of raping her,surrendered on Monday,surrounded by scores of his devotees many of them women who claimed that he was innocent.

Lalkumar Bulchandani,known as Lal Sai,disappeared after October 18 last year when a girl alleged that she had been drugged and raped by him. The 39-year-old runs Temple of Sambodhi,an ashram in Bairagadh on the citys outskirts,where he teaches philosophy and Yog Sadhna. Occasionally,he went to his followers homes to teach Yog Sadhna. The victim alleged that he raped her on the pretext of awakening Kundalini,a latent form of energy believed to lie at the base of the spine. The alleged rape had taken place months ago,but the victim said that she went into depression and had confided only in her mother. The complaint was followed by similar allegations by two other women.

The police kept dragging their feet in the case and said they will arrest him only if they had sufficient evidence.

Story continues below this ad

The investigation into the case changed hands between the city police and the CID before a local court ordered the police to arrest him at the earliest. The Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected his application for an anticipatory bail.

Within days of the court direction,the godman surrendered at the Womens Police Station on Monday,surrounded by nearly 100 supporters,who maintained that he was innocent. He was not absconding,he went into agyatvas. Even the Pandavas had to go in exile, one of them said.

The police produced him before a magistrate who remanded him to 14-day judicial custody while rejecting his bail plea. The next hearing will take place on July 7.

Additional SP Santosh Gaur said they did not press for police remand because they had nothing to recover from him.