Bobbitisation: Court denies lie detection test on woman
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram POCSO court on Monday denied a lie detection test on the woman who allegedly chopped off the genitals of godman Gangeshananda Theerthapada alias Hari Swamy. The court also disposed of the petition seeking lie detection and brain mapping tests after the woman failed to appear before the court to make her stand clear regarding the tests.
The woman was issued summons two times to appear before the court but had failed to do so. The woman’s consent is needed for conducting the tests and whether she is willing to cooperate with it. As she failed to appear before the court, it was presumed she was not willing to cooperate. As such the petition was disposed of.
The police had sought the test after the woman claimed the police have been fabricating stories about the case. The case had dramatic twists after the incident took place on May 18. After the arrest of godman on May 20, the woman told the police her family were staunch followers of the Swami and he had been exploiting this relationship for the past eight years to sexually abuse her.
However, she later made a statement that the godman never misbehaved with her and that it was her boyfriend Ayyappadas who forced her to do it. She made this statement through a letter submitted by the swami’s advocate before the court. Another twist was that the woman’s mother in a letter to police said the swami had never misbehaved with her daughter.