All charges in connection with alleged rape of a young Guyanese woman by Jagadguru Swami Ram Tripathi Maharaj have been dropped by the State. Assistant DPP Roger Gaspard call the evidence tenuous at best and decided to drop all charges against the first Jagadguru in the last 700 years.
Lead defence attorney Prakash Ramadhar commended Gaspard for "being an exemplar, a manful person who does not shirk from his responsibility". But Ramadhar decried the police investigators who laid charges against the swami."It has always been our position that these charges were malicious and fabricated and the identity of the person who created this fabrication and conspiracy is known," he said.
But Ramadhar said there was a man with sinister motives behind the allegations.
"He has in fact been hosting the alleged victim. He has been on a campaign of spreading misinformation to pollute and tarnish the reputation of the swami and handing out fliers in mail boxes."
Ramadhar said he was disappointed that only after charges were laid did police take statements from seven devotees "who were present during the time this alleged offence took place.
"There were persons who gave statements that he was never left alone. He was always accompanied. The girl (who made the allegation) never showed any level of distress and prayed and showed devotion to the swami even after the supposed rape".
Tripathi has not accepted any apologies over the incident in Trinidad and declared, "I have forgiven and forgotten. The truth has prevailed."
"There is no need for bitterness and pain. We must learn from this experience not to bring grief and suffering to others," he said in Hindi.
Maharaj had appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington at the San Fernando Magistrates court charged with raping a 22-year-old Guyanese woman and committing an act of grievous sexual assault at the Palmiste residence.
The woman claimed she had gone to seek spiritual assistance and guidance from the Swami when she was raped. Maharaj has visited Trinidad several times. He was last here in June 2005. News of his arrest was featured in India's leading newspapers, sparking questions about the organisation and his character.
"Before Swami's arrival, a billboard was placed in Couva to advertise his coming. It was smashed and broken down," he said, adding that the Swami had never been alone with any woman during his visit.
He said there had been no evidence to charge the religious leader. The case, he said, had caused tremendous damage to the organisation.
"It is very sad that something like this has happened in Trinidad to someone we hold in such high esteem," Gobin said.
