Metropolitan magistrate Kiran Gupta sentenced Harsh, a father of four minor children, to three years in jail for cheating a 26-year-old woman inducing her to part with her money to perform prayers and assaulting her on the pretext of curing her husband's alcoholism.
Holding Harsh guilty of cheating, the court said, "In the present case accused represented that he has divine powers and made complainant to believe that he can solve her problem and induced her to pay money for performing pujas and also caused threat in her mind that there is likelihood of threat to her life and that of her family if puja is not performed."
The court expressed "shock" at such incidents saying, "It is ironical that being educated and part of civilised society, people get swayed by false claims of these self-acclaimed tantriks/babas."
Harsh used to run a small office in Patel Nagar and frequently give advertisements in newspapers claiming to solve issues like extra-marital affairs through his divine powers.
On seeing one such advertisement, the complainant visited him June 6, 2011 and discussed his husband's alcoholism. Harsh advised her to perform a ritual and took Rs 2,700 from her. Finding no change in her husband's behaviour, she again met Harsh, who took Rs 17,000 from her to perform another prayer.
With no positive change in her married life, the woman visited Harsh on June 21, 2011. While she was waiting, Harsh asked her to establish physical relations with him in order to cure her husband. He started unclothing himself and misbehaved with her on which she raised an alarm and police was called.
