India’s most controversial Godmen

The Babas and their ‘Leelas’ in India are nothing short of the miracles shown in any Bollywood movie. There is nothing like the Baba business – low start-up cost, negligible answerability, great fandom and you don’t need to require to shave in the morning. With their high-level connections with politicians and bureaucrats, these controversial Godmen thought they were untouchable, however, the law eventually got up to speed with them.

Here are the controversial Babas who were caught, brought to justice for their illegal acts.

Asaram Bapu

Controversial Godmen still have followers

Asaram Bapu has over 425 ashrams and more than 50 gurukuls all over the country.

Controversy:- Asaram was arrested in 2013 after a teenager accused him of raping her at a religious event. Asaram has been in jail since 2013 on charges of rape and criminal intimidation. In April 2018, Rajasthan has found Asaram Bapu guilty, for the rape of a teenage girl and is currently serving life imprisonment for the sexual assault in Jodhpur.

Sant Rampal

Sant Rampal had a number of followers and began opening ashrams all over Haryana. Today, he owns a fleet of luxury cars, and an ashram in Barwala, Haryana, spread over a sprawling 12 acres.

Controversy:- On 11 October 2018, Rampal was found guilty of the murder of five women and an 18-month-old child. The incident took place at his Satlok Ashram in 2014 during clashes between his supporters and police. He’s currently serving a life sentence for murder in the Hisar Central Jail. It is interesting to note that despite such serious charges on Rampal Das, his followers resisted his arrest for 9 days by not letting the police enter ashram premises.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

Gurmeet Ram Rahim was head of the spiritual sect Dera Sacha Sauda. He had a flamboyant lifestyle and also made movies where he acted in the lead role. He also led his organization to several Guinness World Records, however, futile they may be.

Controversy:- Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was found guilty of raping two females inside the Dera campus near Sirsa. He was also found guilty of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. His murder conviction for Chhatrapati came in January 2019 and he is facing further prosecution for other murders.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years in jail after being convicted of raping two females.

Swami Nithyananda

Swami Nithyananda is a self-styled Godman and the founder of a trust Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam. The trust has gurukuls, temples, gurukuls, and ashrams across many countries. He fled from the country and has allegedly created a country of his own by the name of ‘Kailasa‘. The exact location of Kailasa is unknown but media reports quoting police sources suggest it is on a small island off the coast of Ecuador.

Controversy:- In June 2012, Swami Nithyananda was also accused of rape by Arthi Rao (Indian-born American citizen) over a five-year period, during her stay in the ashram. A video is broadcast on SUN TV showed him engaging in sexual activities with Tamil actress Ranjitha. Nithyananda and Ranjitha denied the allegations. But later in the investigation, it was confirmed that Nithyananda and Ranjitha were the two people shown in the tape.

In addition to this, Nithyananda is wanted in several cases, including rape, torture, kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Above all, he’s arguably known to be the richest of the controversial godmen in India.

Chandraswami

Chandraswami gained fame through his skill as an astrologer but his rise to national prominence came as a result of his association with Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Chandraswami died of multiple organ failures at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi on 23 May 2017.

Controversy:- In 1996, Chandraswami was arrested on charges of cheating a London-based businessman of $100,000. Chandraswami was charged by Supreme Court to pay a penalty of Rs.9 crores for abusing the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. In addition to this, he was also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Swami Premananda

Swami Premananda had an ashram and orphanage in Matale. He moved to India with his followers and opened an ashram in a rented building in Tiruchirappalli. After that Swami Premananda opened many branches of the ashram in the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, and other countries. Premananda died on 21 February 2011 of acute liver failure, while being held in Cuddalore Central Prison.

Controversy:- In 1994, one of the girls living in the ashram, Arul Jyothi, escaped and reported that she had been raped and was pregnant. During the investigation, two ashram residents also reported that Ravi had been murdered for attempting to expose the happenings at the ashram. On 20 August 1997, Premananda was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined ₹67.3 lakh for 13 counts of rape, molestations of two girls, and murder.

Nirmal Baba

Nirmal Darbar is the name of the paid televised show corresponding to each public meeting of Baba. This show was broadcast by approximately 40 different channels. Nirmal Baba also charges Rs 2000 from every participant who wishes to be a part of his Darbar.

Controversy:- In April 2012, two brothers Tanaya Thakur and Aritya Thakur lodged a report against Nirmal Baba for fooling lakhs of people by creating fear of religion. Another complaint filed by Harish Veer Singh, who claimed that Baba’s advice to eat ‘kheer’ led to a health problem.

The Allahabad High Court has also ordered information and broadcast ministry to set up an inquiry on Nirmal Baba’s TV programs, which allegedly encourages superstition and black magic. In 2014 he was charged with Tax evasion. Moreover, in 2017 the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad called for him to be boycotted, amongst a list of “fake babas”.