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WORLD  Comment on this story Bhakta Dasa's Case In Puri Update BY BHISHMA BENEDICT INDIA, Jan 15 (VNN) — DateLine Jagannatha Puri, December 27, 2001 Bhakta dasa and other devotees still in custody On November 12, 2000 the Orissan Crime Branch filed their "preliminary charge sheet" (official criminal charges) in the Puri Court. Those named in the charge sheet are Ashok Sahoo, Mayapura Chandra dasa, Mandali Bhadra dasa, and Bhakta dasa. They are charged with repeatedly raping Maria Schmidoza over a period of months from December 1999 through June 2000, and with "abusing" Maria's daughter Tulsi. What is particularly noteworthy, is all four were arrested on charges of brutally raping the child, and there was no mention of the mother being raped. Apparently the Crime Branch could not find enough evidence to support the child rape charge, so using the words of Maria in her FIR (First Information Report) in which she speculates that Ashok was giving her drugs and then his friends were having sex with her, the police have charged the four men. All four are still languishing in custody. They should be eligible for bail now that the charges have been filed and the investigation is complete. But, in Orissa the lawyers have gone on strike since early December, so the courts have been dysfunctional. There is no indication when the strike will end, so the poor prisoners go on suffering, in incredibly over-crowded conditions. Meanwhile, Maria lives happily in Austria and Slovakia, and no one knows if she will appear at the trial. If she does, and the defendants are acquitted, as they & their legal experts expect, Maria would be immediately arrested for filing false charges and a defamation lawsuit would also be facing her. She could potentially lose every dollar she can make for the rest of her life. If she does not appear, along with Tulsi, the case will be dismissed. Maria's best defense will undoubtedly be insanity, and from the reading of her FIR and other statements few will question her mental unstabililty. Related VNN Stories Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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