Summons issued to ’godwoman’, told to remain present at police station on Friday

TNN

Mumbai, 10 Aug 2015: The police on Sunday delivered summons to self-styled godwoman Radhe Maa in connection with a dowry harassment case in which she has been made an accused. The summons require her to be present for questioning at Kandivli police station on August 14.

 

Radhe Maa, who was in Aurangabad and Nanded for the past few days, returned to Mumbai on Sunday. A police team had first gone to the Borivli mansion that Radhe Maa shares with the family of advertising company owner Sanjeev Gupta. As she could not be found there, the police left for south Mumbai where she was put up.

 

 

On Saturday, Radhe Maa’s website was hacked. The hacker left a message asking people "to have faith in themselves and work hard instead of believing in godmen/ women." The website was restored by Sunday.

 

On July 18, a housewife from Kandivli had registered a complaint of dowry harassment against her husband, five relatives of her husband and Radhe Maa. She had accused Radhe Maa of provoking her husband and in-laws to torture her. The police are yet to make any arrests.

 

A high-ranking police official said, "We will be questioning Radhe Maa about the extent of her involvement in the couple’s life. The complainant has said that her husband’s family took every decision after consulting Radhe Maa, including whether she was the right match for their son."

 

The police have completed recording statements of the complainant and her family. From Monday, they will start interrogating her husband and in-laws. Officers said that a summons for questioning has already been sent to her husband and in-laws.

 

Last week, a lawyer had approached officials of Borivli police station, complaining of obscenity in the godwoman’s satsangs.

 

While the police have not registered a criminal offence, they have sent the lawyer’s application to experts for legal opinion.

 

Speaking to a television news channel, Radhe Maa said, "I’m not obscene. I’m a mother. If a mother loves her children in her house, how can you call that obscene? I’m pure and pious." She also refused to acknowledge that there was a criminal case registered against her.