"Spiritual Guru" Who Allegedly Raped Czech Woman Denied Bail By Delhi Court

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to a "spiritual guru" accused of raping a Czech woman who was being guided by him in the post-demise ceremonies of her husband.

The accused denied the allegations and argued that the woman had travelled freely with him to several places, including Prayagraj, Banaras and Gaya, and any physical relations between them were consensual.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said he was not "not persuaded" to grant relief to the petitioner accused at this stage, adding that merely because the victim consented to being in his company, it cannot be the basis to infer her consent to sexual liaison.

"A distinction also needs to be articulated between a prosecutrix 'consenting to a situation' vs. 'consenting to sexual liaison'. Merely because a prosecutrix consents to being in the company of a man, regardless of for how long, can never be the basis to infer that she had also consented to sexual liaison with the man," said the court in a recent order.

"In the present case, merely because the prosecutrix agreed to accompany the petitioner to various holy places - for purposes of conducting last rites and rituals - does not ipso-facto imply that she consented to sexual relations with him," it said.

The court observed that the victim's silence to the first alleged incident of physical relations, which was not rape, "cannot be taken to be a licence for more aggravated sexual liaison".

The petitioner had lost her husband in a tragic and untimely manner, and was, therefore, in an emotionally vulnerable state, and being a foreign national unfamiliar with Hindu rites and ceremonies, she developed dependence upon the petitioner to bring a closure to the tragedy she had suffered, it added.

"It is true that the travel to the aforementioned places happened over a period of almost four months, and it is nowhere specifically alleged that the petitioner held the prosecutrix 'hostage' or that she was made to travel with him by use of physical force or restraint, in the opinion of this court, that alone would not be determinative of the state of the prosecutrix's mind, for the court to be able to say at this stage that the alleged sexual liaisons were consensual," the court observed.

The court said it was "not re-assured" that the accused would not interfere in the course of justice by resorting to the "same guile and deception" of being a "holy man", and an attempt to influence the victim and her prime witness cannot be ruled out.

The prosecution opposed the accused's bail plea on the ground that he was a manipulative person, who represented himself to be a "spiritual guru", and played on the woman's vulnerabilities after the untimely demise of her husband.

The court dismissed the accused's bail plea with liberty to him to apply afresh for the same relief before the trial court once the deposition of all prosecution witnesses is complete.

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