ISKCON disciple from Australia held for raping help

Smith Arthur Harold

PuneMirror: An Australian national, disciple of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested on Saturday for raping his domestic help for one-and-a-half years, after promising her marriage.

Smith Arthur Harold (64) was arrested in Mayapur, the headquarters of Krishna movement in Bengal's Nadia district. He was remanded to 14-day jail custody by the CJM of Krishnanagar court.

Though disciples from all over the world are provided with accommodation inside the ISKCON campus, Harold was living in his own apartment in Gournagar. The complainant started working as his cook one-and-a-half years ago.

In her FIR filed on Friday, she stated that Harold first raped her when she started working for him. From June 2013 onwards, he raped her repeatedly. She filed the FIR after he kept going back on the promise of marrying her.

Denying all allegations, Harold said, "I have a happy family back in Australia. My wife is in Australia, and my son works in London. This woman wanted to marry me. When I refused, she trapped me with baseless allegations." Harold was charged under sections 417, 376, 420 of IPC.

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