Maharashtra Crime: After Nashik’s Ashok Kharat, a man from Palghar, who claimed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, accused of rape and blackmailing a woman! How Facebook and Lodge became a web of crime? Will zero FIR bring justice? How many women did the accused implicate? What has the police been able to do so far?
Maharashtra Crime News: After Ashok Kharat of Nashik, a similar sensational case has come to light in Palghar. A 40-year-old man, who claimed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, has been accused of allegedly raping and blackmailing a 35-year-old woman in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. This matter came to light when Ashok Kharat, a former merchant navy officer who claimed to be God, was arrested in Nashik. After this, the woman gathered courage and filed a complaint against the accused Hrishikesh Vaidya.
How did a woman fall into the trap of Facebook?
According to the police, the woman, a resident of Pune, first connected with the accused through Facebook in 2023. The accused deceived the woman by saying that he was the incarnation of Mahadev and the woman was his ‘Parvati’. In December 2023, the accused went to Pune to meet the woman and allegedly took her to a lodge, drugged her and raped her. During this, he also took photographs of the woman without her knowledge and used them for blackmail.
Did the accused implicate many women?
The woman told the police that the accused ran a social organization in Palghar. Through this organization and his network, he allegedly trapped many women and sexually exploited them. In May last year, the accused called the woman to a hotel in Vasai and tried to sexually assault her again.
Will zero FIR lead to justice?
Senior Inspector Hiralal Jadhav of Manikpur police station said that since the main crime took place in Pune, the woman lodged a ‘zero FIR’. The advantage of Zero FIR is that it can be lodged in any police station, even if the crime has occurred in that area or does not fall within the jurisdiction of the police station. The case has now been handed over to Hadapsar police station.
Police action and direction of investigation
Officials are saying that efforts are on to nab the accused. The woman’s courage and action of registering an FIR can prove to be inspiring for other victims as well. Officials say this case highlights the seriousness of women’s safety and online fraud. The woman alleged that the accused used the same method with many other women and sexually assaulted them. Police are trying to catch the accused.