Pic Source: ShivSena UBT social media
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has said if women are being exploited in the name of divine powers and with blessings of those in power, then nothing is more serious than this, comments coming after a self-styled godman’s arrest for rape.
Nashik-based ‘godman’ Ashok Kharat, arrested last week, is facing charges of raping and sexually exploiting women.
In a post on X, Thackeray said Maharashtra has always raised voice against superstition and in favour of rationality. his is why an anti-superstition Bill was passed in the Maharashtra Assembly in December 2013, he pointed out.
अशोक खरात प्रकरणातले हिडीस तपशील वाचून, शब्दशः गरगरल्यासारखं झालं. अवघ्या काही दिवसांपूर्वी १९ मार्च २०२६ ला आमच्या पक्षाच्या गुढी पाडवा मेळाव्यातून, महाराष्ट्राला किती सशक्त परंपरा लाभली आहे आणि या महाराष्ट्राने किती अद्वितीय माणसं या देशाला दिली आहेत याचं सादरीकरण केलं होतं.…
— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) March 23, 2026
Many of the MLAs who supported that Bill back then are legislators today too, and many of them might be implicated in the Kharat case, the MNS leader maintained.
What an unfortunate contradiction this is, and it is indicative of how much Maharashtra has declined, he bemoaned.
“If women are being exploited in the name of divine powers and with blessings of those in power, then nothing is more serious than this. And if this is not stopped in time, then consider Maharashtra doomed,” Thackeray warned.
Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that a Special Investigation Team is conducting a comprehensive probe into the case involving self-styled godman Ashok Kharat, following serious allegations of sexual exploitation and fraud.
