Nashik Astrologer Remanded in Custody for Sexual Assault

A Nashik court remanded a 67-year-old retired Merchant Navy officer and self-styled astrologer to police custody until March 24 following his arrest on March 18 for the alleged repeated sexual assault of a woman over more than three years. Ashok Kumar Kharat, known locally as Captain and chairman of the Shree Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple Trust in Sinnar taluka, was taken into custody from his residence by Nashik city police after the woman filed a complaint detailing abuse from November 2022 to December 2025.

According to the complaint, the woman first approached Kharat in 2019 for astrological guidance on marriage prospects, but interactions intensified in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic's aftermath. Kharat, who claimed divine powers, provided her with a pendant and later convinced her to participate in rituals at his office in Nashik's Canada Corner area. Police said he allegedly administered sedatives through drinks or concoctions to induce numbness, then assaulted her, threatening that resistance would doom her marriage or harm her family. Even after her marriage, the abuse continued, with Kharat warning that her husband would die if she did not comply, officials added.