The five-year-old sensational case involving the bobbitisation of a self-styled godman in the capital city has taken a new twist with the complainant and her alleged partner suspected of having orchestrated the incident and framing the former.
The State Police Crime Branch has unravelled the conspiracy in which Swami Gangeshananda Theerthapada had been accused of rape and arrested by the Pettah police on May 19, 2017. The complainant, a law student, was believed to have chopped off his genitals when the accused had made sexual advances towards her. She had then accused the godman of having subjected her to sexual abuse since her childhood.
The investigators have now concluded that the case was a concocted one and that the complainant and his ‘disciple’ Ayyapadas with whom she was in a relationship had plotted the crime to avenge his role in her family’s refusal to solemnise their marriage.
According to official sources, the Swami, who apparently wielded considerable influence in her household, objected to the relation. This prompted the duo to conspire against him and hatch the plot at the Kollam beach on the day of the incident. Ayyapadas allegedly provided her with the knife used for the act.
While the woman went on to accuse the godman of attempting to rape her, she recanted her statement before the court.
The Crime Branch instituted a fresh probe two years later after Gangeshananda submitted a complaint to the State Police Chief. The case was investigated by B.K. Prasanthan Kani, who is currently the Superintendent of Police of the Crime Branch unit in Alappuzha.
Notwithstanding the findings, the police are unlikely to give a clean chit to the godman. His claim that he was attacked while sleeping was proved to be false based on scientific tests, sources said.
The police have now sought legal opinion on registering a case against the complainant and Ayyappadas in light of the new findings. The possibility of submitting a fresh chargesheet in the case against Gangeshananda is also being explored.
