New Delhi: Delhi's Saket Court has ordered framing of charges against Shanidham founder Daati Maharaj alias Madanlal Rajasthani and his two brothers in a rape case. The CBI had included the names of Daati Maharaj and his two brothers Ashok and Arjun in the supplementary charge sheet.
The CBI had removed the name of Daati Maharaj's brother Anil from the list of accused. These four accused were named in the charge sheet of Delhi Police in October 2018. On the basis of the statement of the victim, the CBI had named Neetu alias Maa Shraddha and Neema Joshi as accused in the charge sheet.
On 3 October 2018, the Delhi High Court had ordered to hand over the investigation of this case to the CBI. The High Court was not satisfied with the investigation of Delhi Police. On 22 January 2019, the court granted bail to Daati Maharaj with some conditions. The court granted bail to Daati Maharaj and his three brothers on a bond of Rs 1 lakh each.
The court had directed that Daati Maharaj should not influence the investigation in any way. He should not tamper with the evidence and shall not influence the witnesses. The court had said that he should not contact the victim and her family. Also, he was banned from going abroad without the permission of the court. The victim who complained of rape had told the police that she had been serving Baba for a decade but Daati Maharaj and his two others raped her.
The victim alleged that another female follower of Daati Maharaj used to send her to Maharaj's room. When she refused, she used to blackmail her. She ran away from the ashram about two years ago and went to her home in Rajasthan. A complaint was filed against Daati on 7 June 2018, but the FIR was registered on 11 June 2018.
