Alarming Case of Sexual Assault in Maharashtra Linked to Superstition
Incident Overview
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Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Sep 1: A disturbing incident of alleged sexual assault has emerged from Chandrapur district in Maharashtra, where a man impersonating a 'Maharaj' reportedly raped a 27-year-old married woman under the guise of performing a ritual to alleviate her husband's ongoing health issues.
Details were shared by Chandrapur's Additional Superintendent of Police, Ishwar Katakade, regarding the event that occurred in the Bhisi police station jurisdiction of Chimur tehsil.
The woman's husband had been suffering from persistent health problems, which the family believed were due to 'Grah Dosh', an astrological condition linked to unfavorable planetary positions in a person's birth chart.
In their search for help, they approached Shubham Latari Khangar, who claimed to be a Maharaj affiliated with the Jagannath Maharaj Bhadrabhesh temple.
On August 30, Khangar, accompanied by two associates, Sachin Modak and Tejas Walkate, visited the woman's residence to conduct a puja.
During the ceremony, the accused allegedly sent the woman's husband outside under the pretense of fetching items needed for the ritual. It was then that Khangar is said to have assaulted the woman while she was alone.
Additional SP Katakade reported that the Bhisi police acted swiftly upon receiving the woman's complaint, leading to the arrest of the three suspects.
The primary suspect, 26-year-old Shubham Latari Khangar, was apprehended along with his accomplices, Sachin Modak and Tejas Walkate.
Authorities have filed charges against the trio under Sections 64(1), 351(3), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Inspector Mangesh Bhogale is overseeing the ongoing investigation.
All three suspects are currently in police custody, as the incident raises serious concerns about the exploitation of superstitions and the manipulation of religious beliefs by individuals posing as spiritual healers.
In a related case, a court in Palghar district sentenced a man to death on August 8 for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Dahanu taluka back in 2021.