In Pics | Godmen involved in cases of sexual assault

Here are some of India's powerful 'gurus' who were accused of sexual offences and many of them were put behind the bars.

Chief pontiff of Murugha Mutt Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana was arrested on September 1 for alleged sexual abuse of high school girls in Karnataka. Credit: DH Photo

Influential self-styled godman Asaram Bapu was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a teenage minor girl in April 2018 and is currently serving life imprisonment in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Credit: PTI Photo

In August 2017, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape and was put away in jail for 20 years by a special CBI court in Mohali, Punjab. He was also named in cases of land grabbing, murder and forced castration. Credit: PTI Photo

Self-styled Godman Virendra Dev Dixit was accused of raping and illegal confinement of minor girls in December 2017. Over 100 women were freed when a raid was conducted at his ashram in north Delhi. He has been absconding since then and is suspected to be hiding in Nepal. Credit: Special Arrangement

In 2010, Swami Nithyananda from Karnataka hit the headlines when a sex tape allegedly of him with an actress was shown on a TV channel. Nithyananda, who faces allegations of rape and land grabbing, has served two stints in jail, including 53 days in 2010. Credit: DH Photo

Santosh Madhavan aka Swami Amrita Chaitanya from Kerala was accused of sexually exploiting two minor girls in 2009. Credit: Special Arrangement

Swami Vikasanand, a self-styled godman from Jabalpur, was accused of sexually abusing minors in 2006. Credit: Getty Images

In the 1990s, there was also the case of Prem Kumar aka Swami Premananda who moved from Sri Lanka to establish an ashram near Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, and later opened branches in foreign countries. The godman was accused of rape and molestation. Credit: Special Arrangement