Mumbai: “I am an avatar of God; You are fortunate that I have touched you and purified you; if you tell anyone this, you will invite the wrath of God”—this is how accused ‘godman’ Ashok Kharat is said to have sexually assaulted and abused women, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the Maharashtra Assembly Tuesday.
Fadnavis gave a detailed reply to legislators regarding the investigation in the case so far. A court in Nashik remanded Kharat to police custody until 29 March.
“So far, a total of eight cases are registered and being investigated in this crime. Seven are with the SIT and one is with the Nashik Police. In this case, anyone complicit in the crime will be investigated if evidence is found against them. No one will be spared,” Fadnavis, who is also the home minister, said.
He added that since many women are fearful, the media should be careful when using any videos in the case. He said that all videos purporting to identify the women in any form on social and traditional media should be taken down immediately, adding that news media should also be careful not to reveal the identity of any woman, or action will be initiated.
The self-styled godman was arrested on 17 March at 23.59 pm . He was given police custody until 24 March, and was presented in court Tuesday. The public prosecutor also said that police are investigating other angles in the Kharat case, such as human sacrifice, hunting and killing of deer for musk and skin, and other financial angles.
Fadnavis said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing this case suspects there are more women victims, and is trying to identify them. He gave details of the cases and also revealed how this came into light. Fadnavis also released a list of properties and wealth owned by Kharat.
Of the cases registered so far, five are by women who are survivors, including a pregnant woman, while one is by the husband of a woman.
How it all started
It started with a complaint by Kharat himself in December 2025, Fadnavis said. In that complaint at Nashik Rural Police Station on December 29, Kharat said that a certain man named Dinesh Parab via Whatsapp application sent him four objectionable photos with a woman in ‘view-once mode’. Parab allegedly threatened Kharat and tried to extort Rs 5 crore from him and said if he doesn’t comply, he would make these photos and associated videos, viral. Fadnavis said the police found no evidence related to any photograph in Kharat’s phone even though WhatsApp messages and calls were recovered.
That ended there. On 18 February 2026, however, a woman in nearby Shirdi complained to the police that a man named Niraj Jadhav had sent her an AI-generated photo of herself in an objectionable position. He later deleted the photo and threatened to make it go viral. When the police investigated, Fadnavis said, the woman did not provide any evidence. However, the investigation continued; the search for Niraj Jadhav uncovered a witness named Yogesh Bhalerao who showed the police about 35 videos of eight women.
In those videos, Fadnavis said, there was evidence of Kharat using black magic and raping several women.
“Though this witness was not ready to come forward, fearing for his life, police had to counsel him and give him assurance of safety. That’s when he came forward. The police even feared that Kharat might fly out of the country, so they circulated a lookout circular against him,” Fadnavis said.
Because the crime was serious, an SIT was formed on 13 March and the first two complaints forwarded to it.
The cases
On 17 March, police counselled one of the women in the videos to register a First Information Report (FIR) at the Sarkarwada Police Station. In her complaint, she said Kharat told her that he has divine powers and called her to his Okas Property office in Nashik where she was drugged and assaulted. According to the woman, Fadnavis said, she was threatened that her husband would be killed if she revealed this to anyone, and repeatedly raped.
Based on this complaint, the police arrested Kharat, Fadnavis told the House. Later, as the police intensified their investigation five FIRs were registered at Sarkarwada police station in Nashik.
The first FIR reveals that the survivor was assaulted between February 2020 and 18 March, 2026 at Okas property mentioned above. Here the survivor was called and, under the guise of religious ceremonies to be performed, given drugs with water in a brass vessel and raped when she fell unconscious. This happened repeatedly and because of that during that period, she became pregnant. Kharat then gave her abortion pills to terminate the pregnancy. She was later threatened, Fadnavis said, that if she decides to leave or stop coming (to Kharat), her family would be destroyed.
In case of the second survivor, the crime took place between November 2023 and December 2025 at Okas property, an employee, whose wife was assaulted, complained. He said his wife was pregnant at the time and Kharat performed some rituals related to this and touched her inappropriately all over. She too was threatened that her family would be killed. The employee in his complaint also revealed that Kharat took money from many women for the temple trust. He also terrorised people by showing them fake snakes and a tiger, asked many women to drink urine, and performed black magic spells, Fadnavis revealed.
In case of the third survivor, the crime took place between 7 and 12 October 2024 at around 11 am at Okas property, where she and her husband had gone there. Kharat later sent the husband out and assaulted the woman. In her complaint, she said she was given a black stone to be placed on her palm and Kharat bent to whisper some mantras in her ear when he touched her inappropriately. During this time, he said, “Don’t worry. I have divine powers. You are under my aura and I have purified you. You are fortunate that I have touched you. If you tell anyone, you will invite the wrath of God.”
The fourth survivor wanted to have a male child and went to Kharat between April 2022 and December 2024. Kharat performed some rituals on her as she wanted the relations with her in-laws and family to be good. She too was drugged and was allegedly told by Kharat that he was an avatar of God, has purified her, and if she tells anyone God will punish her.
Another woman was assaulted between July 2024 and December 2024 where she was allegedly told by Kharat that he is an avatar of Lord Shankar and has divine powers. “I will purify you. If you say no, then your kids will suffer and they will be bitten by snakes,” Fadnavis told the House from the complaint. Even this survivor was given drugged water and raped.
Fadnavis said that the police are looking for more survivors, and suspect that Kharat may have financially defrauded many of them too. While informing the House, Fadnavis gave a glimpse of Kharat’s properties that the police have recovered so far.
According to Fadnavis, the police recovered Rs 6,53,711 cash and two laptops from this house. From the farmhouse at Mirgaon in Sinnar, Nashik, a DVR, revolver, 21 cartridges, and 5 empty shells were recovered. At Mirgaon, Sinnar, Kharat owns 33 acres land and a farmhouse. At village Pathardi in Nashik, he owns 10 acres land; another 6 acres at Sinnar; 4.5 acres at Shirdi in Ahilyanagar in his own name; another 5.5 acres near Shirdi Airport.
Kharat’s list is long: a flat measuring 800 sq ft near Pathardi phata in Nashik, 3 plots of 4 guntha each at Ozar; a 5-guntha plot in Adgaon, Nashik, 40 guntha at Panvel in Navi Mumbai. Then there’s an office at Canada Corner in Nashik measuring 180 sq ft; an 11-guntha plot under his daughter’s name at Sangamner in Ahilynagar, and one in Pune too. A bungalow in Nashik, and 6-odd acres in Shirdi in partnership with 6 people.
Further, Kharat has 12 tola gold under his name, and 20 tolas of gold and a demat investment of Rs 1-2 lakh under his wife’s name.
Fadnavis said that total wealth worth Rs 40 crore and 87 lakh has been identified. “We are also looking for properties under the name of relatives and in foreign countries and the police is suspecting there is more financial wealth. We have also involved the I-T department to investigate if he has bypassed the income tax anytime. Bureacrats and other trustess at Shri Shivanika Sanstha in Nashik and elsewhere associated with him are also being investigated,” Fadnavis said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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