NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to self-styled godman Santhosh Madhavan, who has been undergoing sixteen years’ rigorous imprisonment in Poojappura Central Prison on a charge of raping two minor girls.A Bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai issued orders in this regard provided the godman furnishes a bond of Rs. 50,000. The Bench asked him to surrender his passport to the police and asked him to appear in the police station every Monday. Santhosh Madhavan sought bail saying that he was suffering from severe health problems. The godman was convicted for sexual abuse, paedophilia, molestation of girls at his ashram and for shooting pornographic videos. It was on May 20, 2009, that the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Judge found him guilty of molesting minor girls. He was sentenced to 16 years’ of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ` 2,10,000. Santosh Madhavan is also known as Amrita Chaithanya. His full name is Sree Santhosh Madhava Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Swamikal. He was wanted by the Interpol from 2004 for a fraud committed by him in the United Arab Emirates. A Dubai-based Indian woman, Serafin Edwin, had accused him of cheating her of four lakh dirhams in 2002. He was arrested from Kochi on May 18, 2008, on these charges. He allegedly carried out transnational financial frauds. He has been organising ‘spiritual’ events in Kochi.
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