Swami Omji, of Bigg Boss fame, arrested not for 'molestation' but stealing bicycles
His past seems to have caught up with the controversial, foul-mouthed, urine-throwing, self-styled godman from Bigg Boss - Swami Omji Maharaj.
According to various reports, he has been arrested by the Delhi Police on August 9 for an alleged theft committed nine years ago. A case was filed by his brother who accused him of stealing bicycles along with some documents from the latter's shop.
According to the police, Omji was declared a “proclaimed offender” by a local court. A report in The New Indian Express has the DCP crime Branch, Madhur Verma, confirming the arrest, adding that the accused was arrested from Bhajanpura area of East Delhi.
According to the report, an FIR was registered against Vinodanand Jha (the real name of Swami Omji) on a complaint by his younger brother Pramodh Jha in November 2008, who accused him of breaking the lock of his bicycle shop in Lodhi Colony along with three men and stealing 11 bicycles, expensive spare parts, sale deed of the house and important documents.
In 2016, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him by the Saket court which subsequently declared him a proclaimed offender in the case, a police officer told PTI.
The self-styled Swami, as is apparent to anyone, is anything but pious. In fact, he has a long history of violence. Let’s take a look at the swami’s “illustrious” career:
According to The New Indian Express, Swami Om ji also faces charges under the Arms Act, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in other matters and almost a dozen of cases have been registered against him.
In 2015, at the height of the Radhe Maa controversy, Hindi news channel IBN7 was hosting a panel debate about the Godwoman, which included among others, Swami Omji. The seemingly polite godman made some pretty off-colour remarks on Deepa Sharma, an astrologer and a fellow panellist. What the Swami tried to imply was that a woman who had supposedly charged her father-in-law with sexual harassment in order to get the better of an alleged land dispute, and has been separated from her husband for three years, was in no position to make comments on Radhe Maa.
But the remarks were nothing compared to the aftermath. Deepa Sharma, infuriated by the personal attack, stormed off to his side of the table and gave him a shove. The "all-women-are-devis" Swami retaliated by slapping her!
But violence on TV is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s also issued death threats to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and environment activist Vimlendu Jha. And all on camera. He’s also accused Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan of "love jihad", and threatened to kidnap them if they did not convert to Hinduism.
Omji was also charged with molestation. In February 2017, according to a report in Hindustan Times, a 30-year-old woman accused Omji and his associate of tearing her clothes and touching her inappropriately. The incident was reported from central Delhi’s IP Estate area on February 7, and a case was registered.
“The woman alleged that the men then took her to their room in an ashram near ITO, where they attempted to rape her. She said that she begged them to let her go, but they abused her and threatened to ruin her image,” a police officer told HT.
The woman reportedly told the police that when she warned Omji to report him to the police, he told her that he is a "godman" and would "curse her".
“She claimed he threatened to ruin generations of her family and also said that he was a Bigg Boss contestant and that she should be scared of him,” a police officer said. Omji got anticipatory bail in the molestation case in May.
This is the same man who on India Today TV said that women are "kaamini", or the ones who induce sexual desire, and therefore must be guarded in what they wear and how they conduct themselves in public spaces. In fact, when one of the women panelists, senior Supreeme Court advocate Karuna Nundy, asked Omji whether he thinks he has the right to touch a girl, standing fully nude in front of him, he said: "Many Bollywood actresses have come completely nude in front of me and even tried to seduce me. I am a sanyasi who has control over my senses and desires, but not all men can do that."
The Swami also claimed that he is the one who has saved humanity from the earthquake which shook north India in February 2017, and that the quake itself was a warning to all his haters. He added that God is angry with people for disrespecting him on Bigg Boss 10.
The list of Omji’s exploits seems to be endless. Maybe a little quality jail time will help the publicity-hungry godman find some piety he falsely boasts of.