UDAIPUR: A 50-year-old sant allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in his ashram at the Guniya Mahadev temple under Diwer police station of Rajsamand on Monday morning. The deceased was accused of rape and investigation is underway.
Before committing suicide, the hermit made a video clip alleging conspiracy by a few people, including a member of the women commission. Rajsamand SP said the authenticity of the video clip would be determined and proper action would be taken against the guilty. The man’s body has been kept in a mortuary at the Deogarh CHC and his family in Gwalior has been informed, the police said. Sant Premdas lived and served at the Mahadev Temple Ashram in Guniya village of Bhim block. On Monday morning, his body was seen hanging by a peepal tree.
Diwer SHO Laxman Singh Chundawat said that a couple had lodged a rape case against the saint on May 21. The couple held that they had gone to Premdas on April 20 and May 20 to be cured of abdomen pain. The woman complained that the saint gave her something to drink, which made her drowsy and he raped her.
When the police went to the ashram to investigate the matter, the saint was not found there, the SHO said. The cops instructed a caretaker called Chhaganlal Suthar to inform them when the saint returned. However, when Suthar reached the ashram on Monday, he saw the priest’s body hanging. In the video clip that has gone viral on the social media, the saint alleged conspiracy against the couple and two men, Kishan Gurjar and Mitthu Suthar, claiming that they were demanding Rs 15 lakh from him. The deceased had alleged that one of the members of the women commission too demanded Rs 10 lakh from him.