Kerala godman denies rape, says was asleep when he was bobbitised

Thiruvananthapuram, June 2 (IANS) A 54-year-old godman who was bobbitised by a young woman denied her allegation of sexual molestation and claimed he was "fast asleep" when it happened.

Hariswami said this to reporters here on Friday when he was being taken by the police, which has got his custody for further probe.

The swami was a frequent visitor to the home of a 23-year-old woman who bobbitised him last month. The woman, who stays with her parents, alleged she had been sexually molested by him on many occasions.

"I was asleep and when I woke up I saw the lady. She got help from her friend Ayyapa Das," the swami said, while being taken into a police jeep.

He denied the woman's allegation that she assaulted him with a kitchen knife after he made sexual advances at her.

"The news you hear from the police is the version of the lady, and that's not true. The probe is going forward only on the basis of what she has said," he claimed.

This is the first time Hariswami was making a statement to the media.

It comes close on the heels of a letter by the woman's mother to the Kerala Police chief on May 29 in which she said that her daughter was not keeping the best of mental health and that the swami had never harassed her.

In her letter, the victim's mother said the swami had chided her for an affair with a friend of hers and this led to him being bobbitised on May 18.

According to the mother, her daughter has twice in the past attempted suicide by slashing her wrist.

The godman will now be produced before the court on Saturday when the police custody period ends.

The 23-year-old woman had told police the godman had been raping her since she was a minor, and continued the abuse for about eight years.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)