Police arrest tantrik from Lasalgaon on rape charge

Nashik: Lasalgaon police have arrested a 31-year-old tantrik accused of raping a 35-year-old woman, hours after an FIR was registered early on Thursday. The accused was produced before a court in Niphad, which remanded him in police custody till April 29.The Police identified the accused as Maheshgiri, alias Mahesh Dilip Kakade, a resident of the Lasalgaon police station jurisdiction. Inspector Deepak Patil said Kakade was arrested late on Thursday night.An FIR was registered at the Lasalgaon police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.According to the police, Kakade allegedly sexually assaulted the complainant at a lodge on Trimbakeshwar Road in 2024. The woman did not report the incident at the time, fearing that the accused might curse her. She approached the police only recently after members of the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti encouraged her to lodge a complaint following the exposure of astrologer Ashok Kharat in similar sexual assault cases.The complainant works as a security guard. Police said she was first married in 2017, but separated due to domestic issues. Her second marriage in 2020 also ended unsuccessfully, after which she began living with her parents. Disturbed by her failed marriages, her parents believed she was under an evil spell and sought the help of a tantrik, leading to her contact with the accused.The police said the investigation is underway and, so far, no other complainant has come forward with allegations against Kakade.