JABALPUR: Within days of a tsunami of protest over his remark that the Delhi gang-rape victim should have pleaded with her rapists that she was their sister, controversial godman Asaram said during a satsang here that doctors who carry out abortions are "haraami" (illegitimate) and that women who charge their in-laws with dowry harassment are ‘manchali’ (giddy, frivolous).

Asaram said this in presence of hundreds of people on Tuesday evening during an event where the media was banned. However, unbeknownst to Asaram, his comments were noted down by local intelligence unit personnel and reported to their seniors, who informed the Indian Medical Association.

By Wednesday afternoon, even as an oblivious Asaram danced and dispensed toffees from " bhaktidham express ", a scented toy train on a 220-feet track remote-controlled by him, IMA called an emergency meeting and condemned the godman’s remarks, demanding immediate retraction of his statement.

Questioning Asaram’s abusiveness and vicious female bashing, IMA chief, Dr RK Pathak, said use of such crude language before thousands of people had left the medical fraternity speechless.

"Either Asaram has lost his mental balance or he does not know the meaning of the expletives he used. The association demands an immediate retraction of the offending sentence, failing which we will be forced to take further steps," said Dr Pathak.

Asaram’s audience included Madhya Pradesh assembly speaker Ishwar Das Rohani while he advised them to steer clear of pro-abortion doctors. This class, the godman claimed, is being generously funded by evil foreign powers. Asaram said America is pumping in money to annihilate Indian culture. Medical termination of pregnancy, he warned, was the worst sin. But ‘harami’ doctors mislead gullible women who end up "truncating" India’s population, he said.

On dowry harassment, Asaram said, "Such cases are piling up fast but at least 96% of these are unable to stand up to legal scrutiny," Asaram declared. An ideal daughter-in-law, he said, is one who serves the family and doesn’t drag her family members to court. Cunning bahus, he emphasized, deserve to be punished.

