Surat:

A 45 year old Jain muni who had raped a 19 year old girl here was formally arrested today.

A senior police official said that the it was established during the medical examination of the girl in New Civil Hospital here today that she was in fact raped.

A case in this regard was lodged in the Athwa police station here yesterday. The girl, a native of Madhya Pradesh living in Vadodara, had in a letter to the police commissioner of Surat had alleged that she was raped by Muni Shanti Sagar Maharaj of Digambar Jain sect on October 1. She had come to see him with her family during his Chaturmas (a kind of religious ceremony). He raped her under the pretext of some kind of Mantra diksha/jaap in Nanpura Timaliyavad here.

The police official said that the accused was called to the police station and was detained. The process to formally arrest later followed.

Meanwhile some of his supporters today protested against the allegations here.

DeshGujarat