Daati Maharaj questioned over rape allegations, may face potency test

NEW DELHI: The police may move for a potency test on the self-proclaimed spiritual leader, Daati Maharaj, who was questioned on Friday in an alleged rape case.
Daati Maharaj (66) denied the allegation, claiming he belonged to the Naga sect, and also said he was not present in the Chhatarpur ashram on the day of the incident. Sources said he had also submitted some ‘evidence’ to prove his absence.

The police said that as the alleged incident took place in 2016, the investigators have to depend on technical evidences and eyewitness accounts.

While being questioned at the office of the interstate cell, Daati alleged hands of some former disciples behind the case. He claimed they were having a dispute with him over Rs 32 crore they owed to his trust. The police may call them for questioning next week after verifying Daati’s allegations.

The woman who has filed the complaint has claimed that she knows a few others in the ashram who were also sexually assaulted by Daati but were intimidated by his followers. Cops will question a woman who used to manage the daily activities of the destitute home attached to the ashram.

The woman said the victims would be called for “sewa” in the guru’s room one at a time and sexually assaulted by him or his followers in January 2016. “I was a devout follower and agreed to visit him but he took advantage of it,” she said.

The investigators have sought the mobile phone records of the woman and Daati as she has alleged that he had called her a few times for sexual favours in his Delhi ashram. Daati is likely to be called for questioning again next week.