Summons served to Radhe Maa; cops to record controversial godwoman's statement on Friday

Mumbai, Aug 10: Summons have been served on self-styled godwoman Sukhwinder Kaur alias Mamtamai Shri Radhe Guru Maa in connection with a dowry harassment case and other issues and her statement is likely to be recorded on Friday, police said here on Monday.

"The summons were served at her residence late Sunday. Her statement is likely to be recorded on Friday," a Mumbai police official told the media.

Radhe Maa, touring Aurangabad and Nanded in the past few days, returned to her Borivali home in north-west Mumbai on Sunday.

She rubbished the dowry charges levelled against her by a woman from Kandivali and said she had nothing to do with her family dispute.

In her complaint last week, the 32-year-old woman alleged that Radhe Maa instigated her husband and in-laws to demand dowry from her, though she had given them jewellery worth over Rs.102 crore at the time of her marriage.

She claimed Radhe Maa asked her in-laws, including her chartered accountant husband, to make more dowry demands on her later and caused "mental and physical torture".

Taking cognisance of the complaint, police on Monday began recording the statements of at least five persons named as accused by the complainant at Kandivali police station.

The action follows registration of an FIR against Radhe Maa and seven others, including the woman's in-laws, in the matter, charging them under the Indian Penal Code and the Dowry Prohibition Act.

Last week, activist lawyer Falguni Brahmbhatt lodged a separate complaint in Borivali police station against Radhe Maa for obscenity, running a business disguised as religion and misleading the people.

Claiming to be a fan of actor and ex-porn star Sunny Leone, Radhe Maa's pictures in short dresses and gyrating to Bollywood tunes with her devotees during 'satsangs' (religious discourses) have gone viral on the social media in the past few days.

Recently, Radhe Maa, 50, shot into the limelight when she - along with a couple of other godmen - was banned from going to Nashik for the ongoing Kumbh mela and taking part in the 'shahi snan' (royal bath).

Born Sukhvinder Kaur, she hails from an affluent family of Gurdaspur and her father was a government servant in Punjab.

Educated upto senior secondary level, she dropped out of school and got married at the age of 18 to a businessman, Mohan Singh, of Hoshiarpur and the couple has three children.

However, she renounced the world at the age of 23 and was initiated as a 'sadhvi' by Mahant Ramdin Das 1008 of Paramhans Bagh Dera, in Hoshiarpur.

Since the past few years, Radhe Maa has made Borivali her home where a devotee donated a building to her for her religious work.

IANS