A self-proclaimed godman from Maharashtra’s Palghar district has been charged with allegedly raping a 35-year-old woman after claiming to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, an official said on Friday (March 27, 2026).
The woman plucked up the courage to file a complaint against the 40-year-old accused following the recent arrest of former merchant navy officer and self-styled godman Ashok Kharat in Nashik, he said.
Police said the woman, a resident of Pune, first came in contact with the accused through Facebook in 2023.
“In December that year, the accused visited Pune to meet the woman. He allegedly duped her by claiming that she was an incarnation of Mahadev (Lord Shiva) and that she was his ‘Parvati’,” the official said, citing the FIR.
The complainant alleged that the man took her to a lodge in Pune’s Manjari area where he administered an anesthetic before raping her. During the assault, the defendant allegedly photographed the woman without her knowledge.
The woman told the police that the accused, who runs a social organization in Palghar district, used the photographs to blackmail her. In May last year, he allegedly called her to a hotel in Vasai and again tried to sexually assault her.
Senior Inspector Hiralal Jadhav of Manikpur police station said the woman decided to come forward after the case of ‘Captain’ Kharat from Nashik gave her the courage to share her ordeal.
As the primary offense allegedly took place in Pune, the Manikpur police on Wednesday registered a “zero FIR” and then handed over the investigation to Pune’s Hadapsar police station for further investigation, he said.
A Zero FIR is a First Information Report that can be filed at any police station in India, regardless of where the crime occurred or which station has jurisdiction.
The complainant also alleged that the accused lured and sexually abused several other women using a similar modus operandi. Efforts are on to nab the accused, the official added.
Published – 27 March 2026 11:18 IST
