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Maharashtra: Self-styled godman who forced followers into unnatural sex arrested

Police got a whiff of the situation after a complaint was lodged on Friday by a few locals who claimed that video clips of the godman, Asif Noori, forcing followers into unnatural sex were being circulated on social media.A self-proclaimed godman has been arrested in Maharashtra’s Parbhani district for allegedly making his male followers engage in unnatural sexual acts with each other by claiming to possess divine powers. Police got a whiff of the situation after a complaint was lodged on Friday by a few locals who claimed that video clips of the godman, Asif Noori, forcing followers into unnatural sex were being circulated on social media.

Parbhani Superintendent of Police Dilip Zalake said Noori was arrested from neighbouring Buldhana district and brought in Parbhani on Sunday night. “We received a complaint on Friday from a few citizens after video and audio clips of him allegedly forcing male followers into unnatural sex were circulated on social media,” PTI quoted Zalake as saying.

Noori used to target young married men from Nanded and Parbhani districts of Marathwada and claimed to solve their personal problems. The 38-year-old godman then used to take the victims in a room on the pretext of performing rituals. There he would sedate them and force them to engage in unnatural sex with each other and the unsuspecting victims would follow the instructions in the hope of warding off problems.

The self-styled godman used to derive vicarious pleasure, said Ashok Ghorband, Senior Inspector of Kotwali. Noori was staying in a madrasa at Darga Road here in the Marathwada region of the state. As the madrasa was allegedly used for the act, an offence under IPC section 295 (defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) will be registered against Noori.

The arrest comes days after the Supreme Court reserved its judgement on IPC section 377, which prohibits unnatural sex. However, the victims have not been booked under this section, Ghorband said.

The incident comes at a time when self-styled godman Daati Maharaj, who has been accused of raping a 25-year-old woman at his ashrams in Delhi and Rajasthan, is facing legal proceedings.

(With PTI inputs)