Close aide of Uddhav Thackeray and former Shiv Sena UBT member of parliament Vinayak Raut and his UBT Sena corporator son Gitesh are in trouble following a complaint registered by Gitesh’s estranged wife Girija.
On June 10, Girija filed a complaint that she was cheated into marrying Gitesh and forced to undergo tantrik poojas by Raut senior and Gitesh. The complaint has been registered at Kapurbawdi police station in Thane, and police have registered an offence against seven persons, including Raut senior, Gitesh and their relatives. One tantrik, Feroze Baba, has also been arrested from the Sindhudurg district by the police.
Following the complaint, Raut has denied all the allegations levelled at him and his family and claimed that his daughter-in-law wanted ₹ 5 crore and a three-bedroom flat from them.
Girija, previously Nikita Pawar, met Gitesh Raut through a matrimonial site, and the two were married at the end of 2017. Girija claims that her husband did not want to have physical relations with her as a normal husband and wife would. Gitesh’s family claimed that she suffered from an evil curse and was taken to self-styled tantriks and godmen for four years between 2018 and 2022.
First, she was treated by a godman in Kurla, then she was taken to Feroze Baba in Sindhudurg and then to Rajapur in Ratnagiri district. The tantriks performed rituals to cure her from evil powers, and she was told not to have physical relations till she was completely free of the evil forces.
Police have registered a case against Vinayak Raut, his son Gitesh, his wife Shyamala and others under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori practices and Black Magic Act of 2013. Other sections applied include BNS sections related to cruelty, cheating, and causing hurt.
Vinayak Raut has said that the complaint was registered after a matrimonial dispute. He claimed that Girija wanted a three-bedroom flat, ₹ 5 crore, an automatic car and ₹ 2 lakh per month as maintenance, and these demands were refused by the Raut family.
Rauts have applied for anticipatory bail in the Thane sessions court, and the plea is going to come up for hearing on July 23.
