Indians, in general are highly God-fearing and God-believing. We, although don’t believe self-proclaimed God men and women, but honestly, we do have the tendency to start trusting them after some period. But, it is these God-Men and women that have been charged of committing rape, extortion, murder,sedition and black magic – these are just a few of the crimes committed by them.
While some spiritual gurus have stuck to what they profess to do – guide and spiritually enlighten their followers, there are many self-proclaimed ‘saints’ who have been involved in various illegal and socially unacceptable acts. However, in spite of the regular reports against these god men and women, their followers continue to worship them. In 2013, Maharashtra became the first state to pass the Anti-superstition and Black Magic Act, which was originally drafted by anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar.
Here are some of the most controversial God-Men and Women of our Country.
Sant Asaram Bapu:
The self- proclaimed god man Asaram Bapu who , once was the ‘Supreme’ God-Man, revered by many people across India and also abroad, was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 16 year old girl.Other charges of land encroachment and murder have also been levied against him. His comment post the December 2012 Delhi gang rape where he said that the girl is as guilty as the perpetrators and that she should have begged for them to stop, also created much uproar against him. Both his son, Narayan Sai and daughter, Bharti Shriji, have followed their father’s footsteps to become spiritual preachers. Sai has been charged with molestation, exploitation and repeated rape by a Surat-based woman.
Sant Rampal:
The founder of the Satlok Ashram, asocio-spiritual movement in Haryana, Sant Rampal is a self-proclaimed spiritual successor of the 15th century mystic poet saint Kabir. The Ashram was founded in 1999 in the district of Rohtak. Sant Rampal has always vehemently opposed the beliefs of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj, leading to clashes between Rampal’s followers and members of the Arya Samaj, leading to his arrest.He then set up the Rashtriya Samaj Seva Samiti, an ‘army’ that has protected him against arrests and clashes with the police. In November 2014, Sant Rampal was finally arrested on charges of murder, sedition, attempt to murder, hoarding illegal weapons, among others.
Swami Nithyananda:
He has been named as one of the top 100 most spiritually influencing people by the Watkin’s Mind Body Soul magazine, and has around 20 million followers worldwide. He shot to the “controversial” fame when few tapes of him in a compromising position with actress Ranjitha were leaked.He has also been accused by a former follower, Arathi Rao of repeated rapeand threats. His organization has also been accused of serving holy water laced with drugs and use of elephant tusks.
Radhee Maa:
Radhe Maa, Born, Sukhvinder Kaur, has followers all over India. Including Subhash Ghai, Controversial FTII Chairman, Gajendra Chauhan, and possibly, Divyanka Tripathi (a photo of her went viral on internet) has been booked under the Anti-Superstition law and Nikki Gupta, with whose family she has been staying, has also accused her of inciting Gupta’s husband and in-laws to demand dowry. An obscenity case has also been slapped against her for images that have been doing the rounds of her in a red mini skirt.
By: Archa Dave
