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What the stars didn't foretell

Eugene Correia in Toronto

Astrologer Suraj Prakash Malhotra may not know what fate awaits him when he goes to trial on three counts of sexual assault.

He had his first day in court on June 27 when he was provided with the disclosure and ordered to reappear on July 11. He emerged from the spanking new courthouse in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, wearing a Nehru jacket and carrying a brown leather briefcase, along with an articling lawyer.

His troubles began on April 10 when a woman, a divorced mother of two teenage children, one of them a girl aged 14 years, went to the Surya Jyotish Ashram to get her palm read. The woman, who cannot be identified by law, said a friend coaxed her into going to the ashram.

To her surprise, Malhotra offered her an opportunity to become a partner in a new company he was forming. After she declined, Malhotra offered her a job in a new venture he was involved in with three others, his friend Surinder Ahuja, a real estate agent, Sudhir Anand, co-publisher of The Weekly Voice, a newspaper catering to the South Asian community, and Manmohan Singh, a chartered accountant.

Malhotra was the president of the newly formed company, Canada India Beauty Princess, which will host the Canada India Beauty Princess Pageant in Toronto on July 7.

Till a week or so before Malhotra's appearance in court, he remained the president even after the story broke. Anand now heads the group.

The woman was hired as secretary of the company. She worked out of the ashram. She said Malhotra often praised her for her intelligence during the first three weeks. But on May 4 he allegedly touched her inappropriately and said he would help get rid of her "bad energy".

The woman says she showed her reluctance at Malhotra's sexual advances and made it clear that she was there to work. She didn't go to work for a few days after the first incident, but later returned. Malhotra again assaulted her. She then began working from home, but finally decided to quit on May 17.

She said that after she reported the incidents to the police, she got threats. She also reported these threats to the police. She admitted to being scared and worried, but still reported the sexual assaults.

She said she wanted to leave her employment after the first incident, but decided to stay on to see what was going on in the ashram. According to her, Malhotra behaved differently with her and other women. But she felt there could be other victims who may have refused to come forward to report the incidents to the police.

She said that after the story broke out in the print media she received a few calls from women who said they too had had bad experiences at the ashram.

But police say no one else has reported any similar experience. Sources close to Malhotra say the defendant will try to prove that the victim was engaging in illegal acts and that he had threatened to fire her. They say the astrologer, who claims to be an acharya and not a pundit, feels there is a plot to frame him.

Outside the court, Malhotra pleaded with reporters to have patience till the case comes up for hearing. He said he would defend himself vigorously and try and prove the woman untrustworthy.

Malhotra said he does not run the ashram for money as he comes from a wealthy family. He said he made his money selling gemstones and often provides free service to many clients.

He said he was shocked that Anand chose to run the story in his paper when the victim is an employee of the company of which Anand himself is a partner. The paper didn't mention the fact that the woman was working for Canada India Beauty Princess. Anand said he wasn't aware that the story was going in the paper. But Malhotra does not believe Anand.

Asked to confirm if he has been married three times, Malhotra shot back, "What relevance has that to the story? I have been not married illegally."

The 43-year-old Malhotra has built his clientele from his days at Malton, known as Little Punjab, where he first began his ashram. He had left Canada for some years during which he was reportedly in Delhi studying astrology.

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