Teen held for impersonating Shirdi Sai Baba
September 21st, 2009 - 2:57 pm ICT by IANSRaipur, Sep 21 (IANS) A 15-year-old girl who said she was a reincarnation of the Shirdi Sai Baba was arrested along with 14 others in a Chhattisgarh village after people started offering her money, police said Monday.
The alleged extortion incident took place in poverty-hit Kharra village in Raigarh district, 220 km north-east of the state capital Raipur.
“The girl, Madhusheela Sahu, was projected by her close relatives as a reincarnation of Sai Baba for the past one month. Initially we didn’t pay much attention to the issue but, for the past one week, people had started thronging her house in hundreds to seek her blessings. It was all staged and we finally arrested the girl along with 14 others
Sunday,” Rahul Sharma, district superintendent of police, told IANS.
Police said they acted after conducting a detailed investigation into the
case. They found that certain people had dressed the girl as the early 20th century spiritual guru from Shirdi and made her appear in public. They publicised her appearance in some 50 villages around Kharra to ensure that hundreds of people would rush to offer money in exchange for her blessings.
Her family had allotted a small room to the girl, who gave blessings throughout the day to visitors who offered her money to help them get rid of their daily problems and even diseases such as cancer.
- Sai Baba devotees offer prayers on first death anniversary - Apr 24, 2012
- Satya Sai Baba laid to rest in Puttaparthi - Apr 27, 2011
- With Sai Baba gone, Puttaparthy faces uncertainty - Apr 28, 2011
- Puttaparthi readies for Sai Baba's death anniversary - Apr 12, 2012
- Sacred sandals of Shirdi Sai Baba travel to London - Aug 20, 2010
- Replica of Shirdi Sai Baba temple in Mumbai - Dec 14, 2011
- Travelator to make Shirdi Sai Baba temple visit hassle-free - Nov 09, 2011
- Sathya Sai Baba breathes his last - Apr 24, 2011
- Man kills brother over land tensions, witchcraft - Nov 01, 2011
- Tribals should unite to fight Maoism: BJP MP - Jan 04, 2011
- Remembering Sathya Sai Baba's soul safari (First Person) - Apr 25, 2011
- Sai Baba devotees celebrate Avataar declaration day - Oct 20, 2011
- Sathya Sai Baba: A village boy who became demi god (Obituary) - Apr 24, 2011
- Shirdi temple trust to honour Tendulkar - Apr 04, 2011
- Four held for abducting Class 1 boy - Apr 29, 2011
Tags: appearance, blessings, cancer, close relatives, diseases, district 220, district superintendent, extortion, money, old girl, poverty, rahul sharma, raigarh, raipur, reincarnation, shirdi sai baba, spiritual guru