A woman devotee has accused Vrindavan-based kathavachak (religious storyteller) Dr Indradev Maharaj of raping her at his ashram, and a Zero FIR has been registered at Kashimira Police Station in Mira-Bhayandar, Maharashtra. The case was registered under Sections 69, 75, 79 and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and is now under investigation.
The complainant says she spent about eight months trying to get her complaint acted on, and that the FIR was registered only after Bhumata Brigade president Trupti Desai took up her case. Indradev Maharaj, associated with the Sevadham Ashram in Vrindavan, has not been charged in court, and no public response from him or his ashram to these allegations could be found as of 7 November 2026. The allegations have not been independently verified.
What the complaint alleges
The woman says she first followed the preacher’s discourses on social media. According to IBC24’s account of the complaint, she attended his satsang in Santacruz, Mumbai, in April 2023 and took diksha (spiritual initiation) from him there. She shared her personal and family problems with him, and she alleges he won her trust by promising to help resolve them.
The key allegations, as reported:
- Invitation to the ashram. She says she was invited to the Sevadham Ashram in Vrindavan on the pretext of further spiritual guidance and diksha. She travelled there in December 2023, reportedly with her daughters.
- Late-night summons and rape. She alleges he called her to his room late at night, closed the door and forcibly had physical relations with her. Reports place the time between about 10:30 pm and midnight. IBC24 reports she says he claimed the CCTV cameras were switched off.
- Instruction to mislead others. She says she was told to tell anyone who asked that she was going to collect medicine.
- Obscene video calls. She alleges he made her undress on video calls, engaged in obscene acts and recorded them. Pune Mirror reported that she described frequent late-night calls between 2023 and 2025; Navabharat places some of them in November 2025 and January 2026.
- Threats. She alleges he later exploited her by threatening to defame her, which corresponds to the criminal intimidation charge.
In her statement, the woman said that after she entered his room, the preacher closed the door and forcibly established physical relations with her.
Timeline of the allegations
Dates as reported by IBC24, Navabharat, InKhabar and Pune Mirror; months approximate, video-call period varies by report
The eight-month window is counted back from the FIR, based on the complainant’s account; the exact date she first went to police has not been reported.
The charges under BNS
The four sections invoked carry maximum sentences ranging from two to ten years. The BNS replaced the Indian Penal Code on 1 July 2024.
| BNS section | Offence | Maximum punishment | Old IPC equivalent |
| 69 | Sexual intercourse by deceitful means (false promise, deception) | Up to 10 years + fine; cognizable, non-bailable | New offence (partly 417, 376) |
| 75 | Sexual harassment (unwelcome advances, demands, showing pornography) | Up to 3 years and/or fine | 354A |
| 79 | Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman | Up to 3 years + fine | 509 |
| 351(2) | Criminal intimidation | Up to 2 years and/or fine | 503, 506 |
Section 69 applies where consent is obtained through deceit. Media reports describe the case as one of rape, but the reported sections do not include BNS Section 64, the main rape provision. Charges can be added or changed after investigation.
A Zero FIR can be filed at any police station regardless of where the offence happened (Section 173, BNSS). The station must then transfer it to the police with jurisdiction, here Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh. Hindi outlet InKhabar reports the case has been transferred to Mathura police for investigation.
Eight months, then an FIR
The woman says she sought justice for about eight months without any action on her complaint. InKhabar reports she had first approached Mathura police, and filed a Zero FIR in Maharashtra only after nothing moved. The FIR was reportedly registered after activist Trupti Desai intervened.
Desai, who founded the Bhumata Brigade and is known for campaigns for women’s entry to shrines such as Shani Shingnapur, held a press conference in Pune. Her demands:
- Immediate arrest of the preacher and a thorough investigation.
- Statements from any other women who may have faced similar abuse, so their complaints are also investigated.
- Accountability for those who allegedly exploit women’s faith in the name of satsang and devotion.
Desai appealed to any other woman with a complaint against the preacher to come forward without fear. She said it was time for women to break their silence, and her organisation alleged that women’s faith is being misused in the name of religious discourse.
The case has drawn attention in Nashik ahead of the Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh. Navbharat Live reports Indradev Maharaj is described as a Mahamandaleshwar linked to the Anand Akhara; it found no official response from the akhara or the Akhara Parishad.
Where reports differ
Early coverage disagrees on several details. These should be confirmed with police or the FIR copy before publication.
| Detail | Version in the original draft | Other reports |
| Complainant’s home | Resident of Pune | Originally from Bihar (IBC24, Navabharat, InKhabar); Maharashtra-based (IBC24) |
| Where she met him | Satsang in Mumbai, 2023 | Satsang in Santacruz, Mumbai, April 2023 (IBC24) |
| Time she was called to his room | Around midnight | About 10:30 pm (IBC24) |
| Satsangs in Pune | He gained trust by organising satsangs in Pune | Not mentioned in other reports |
| Where FIR stands | Kashimira, Mira-Bhayandar | Kashimira (Thane district); transferred to Mathura police (InKhabar) |
The accused’s side. No statement from Indradev Maharaj or the Sevadham Ashram on these allegations was found. Prabhat Khabar reports an alleged audio clip linked to the case is circulating on social media; its authenticity has not been verified. Some devotees quoted by Navbharat Live say the allegations are false. Guilt can only be established by a court.
The bigger picture: crimes against women
India recorded 4,48,211 crimes against women in 2023, up from 4,45,256 in 2022 and 4,28,278 in 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). That is a rate of 66.2 cases per lakh women.
NCRB, Crime in India 2023 (released 30 Sept 2025), via PTI and Morung Express; modesty-assault figure from the NCRB report
These are police-registered cases, and NCRB itself cautions they may understate the true scale. NCRB data for 2018 also showed that in about 94% of rape cases the accused was someone known to the survivor, which is relevant to cases built on trust, such as those involving spiritual guides.
Few cases end in conviction
Registered rape cases have held near 30,000 a year since 2018, but most trials do not end in conviction. Across all crimes against women, the conviction rate was 26.5% in 2021, and over 90% of cases sent to court were still pending at year-end.
NCRB Crime in India 2018–2023; conviction range per NCRB as reported by Reuters/ThePrint. 2019, 2020 and 2022 counts from the respective NCRB reports
Long delays and low conviction rates are part of why survivors and activists, as in this case, push publicly for police to register FIRs and act quickly.
