India's 'Falahari Baba' held over rape charges

The famed "Falahari Baba" of Rajasthan in India has been arrested after he was charged with raping a 21-year-old woman at his ashram in Alwar.

Police arrested Kaushlendra Prapannacharya Falahari Maharaj, 70, this afternoon following three days of investigation after allegations of sexual assault against him, reports NDTV.

Facing rape charges, the self-styled "Godman", dubbed for his fruits-only diet, got admitted to a private hospital in Alwar earlier this week saying he was suffering from high blood pressure.

However, police today got a medical examination conducted on him at a government-run hospital in Alwar and later arrested him after his ECG, blood pressure and sugar level were found to be normal, NDTV reports quoting Paras Jain, additional superintendent of police in Alwar.

Earlier, on August 7, the "Falahari Baba" allegedly raped the woman at his lavish ashram in Alwar and warned her against telling anyone.

The victim, a law intern whose parents were followers of the "Godman", brought the allegations after another high profile guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was convicted of raping two women and was sentenced to 20-years in prison.

She said that she visited his ashram on August 7 to donate some money after she secured an internship under a senior lawyer in Delhi, apparently on the baba's recommendation. She was asked to stay the night at the ashram as the baba could not meet anyone during an "eclipse", and at night he called her to his room and raped her.

Her parents later informed police and filed a case, NDTV reports quoting Archana Jha, a police officer in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur.

Further investigations also revealed that the "Falahari Baba" had been visiting the woman's house for some time.

The "Godman" has been seen in photographs with top political leaders and celebrities and has devotees in India as well as abroad.