Self-styled godman Daati Maharaj’s brother joins probe in rape case

New Delhi (PTI): Self-styled godman Daati Maharaj’s brother, a co-accused in the rape of a disciple in the ashrams here and Rajasthan, joined the probe on Wednesday and was being interrogated, a police official said.

The self-styled godman was questioned by the police for over seven hours on Tuesday. The younger brother of Daati Maharaj was also named by the victim in her complaint to the police.

He reached the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch office this afternoon and his is being questioned, they said. On Saturday, a Delhi Police team, accompanied by the rape victim, had visited the self-godman’s ashram in Pali, Rajasthan, to gather evidence.

The team failed to find him at the ashram. The woman had filed the complaint against Daati Maharaj, his three brothers and a woman at the Fatehpur Beri police station here in south Delhi last Sunday.

The case was later transferred to the Crime Branch. The victim alleged that she was sexually abused at Daati Maharaj’s ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan.

The Delhi Commission for Women had recently demanded the arrest of the self-styled godman.

The woman told the police that she had been a disciple of Daati Maharaj for a decade but after she was raped by him, she returned to her home in Rajasthan.

The Delhi Police had earlier issued a lookout circular against Daati Maharaj to ensure that he does not leave the country.