PUNE: A sessions court at Baramati in Pune district on Tuesday convicted and sentenced a 51-year-old ‘Maharaj’, who claimed supernatural powers to perform money rain rituals, to four-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) under the Black Magic Act.The court also sentenced Milind Madan Jadhav, the convict, to two-year RI, holding him guilty of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. The court, however, acquitted Jadhav of the charges of raping the complainant, a mess operator and her woman friend and sexually assaulting them through deceitful means, as the survivors did not support these charges and were declared hostile during the trial.“It is time to acknowledge that innumerable offences have been committed in the names of some illogical practice, with a vast majority of victims being women and children. Equally important is the acknowledgment of a fine distinction between religion and superstition so that religion is not exploited by goons and so-called maharaj to fulfill their ulterior motives,” additional sessions judge SR Patil said in his judgment.
The court observed that superstition continued to play a widespread role in Indian society and was often used to exploit people facing difficulties, particularly women and children.The complainant in the case lives separately from her husband in Baramati due to his alcohol addiction. In her complaint, she alleged that two of her friends told her about Jadhav, who projected himself as a ‘maharaj’ possessing supernatural powers and claimed he could make money “rain” through special rituals. She alleged that he raped her on two occasions under the pretext of ‘money rain’, and also cheated her of money. She later found that one of her friends was also induced by the accused under similar claims. During the trial, however, the complainant and her friend did not support the rape allegations and had to be declared hostile by the prosecution. The court, however, took note of the other allegations.While convicting the accused under the Black Magic Act, the court relied on the fact that the material – heaps of rice, lemons, betel leaves, alcohol, cigarette and heart of chicken – used for the ritual was not similar to that used in recognised religious practices. It held that the rituals conducted at the Mahabaleshwar bungalow amounted to “human sacrifice and other inhuman, evil and aghori practices and black magic” under Section 2(1)(b) of the Act. The accused is lodged in jail since the arrest and has been given the benefit of set off by the court.
