Daati Maharaj grilled by crime branch officials

New Delhi: Self-styled godman Daati Maharaj, accused of raping a disciple in his ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan, was questioned  by officials of the crime branch, the police said.

Daati Maharaj came to the office of the crime branch in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri on Tuesday morning and was questioned for close to two hours, they said.

In June, a Delhi Police team, accompanied by the rape survivor had visited Daati Maharaj’s ashram in Pali, Rajasthan to gather evidence, but they failed to find him there.

The woman had filed the complaint against the self-styled godman, his three brothers and a woman at the Fatehpur Beri police station in south Delhi in June. The case was later transferred to the crime branch.

The woman alleged that she was sexually abused at Daati Maharaj’s ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan. She also told the police that she had been a disciple of the self-styled godman 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 him.