A religious leader accused of proclaiming himself a living ‘god’ to exploit and sexually abuse his followers was a ‘devil’ in disguise, an ex-disciple has claimed amid a £8million High Court fight.

Rajinder Kalia allegedly ‘groomed’ members of his temple to believe he is ‘an incarnation of God,’ while subjecting women and underage girls to sexual abuse.

Mr Kalia – head priest at his Hindu-based temple in Coventry – allegedly wooed worshippers by claiming he could perform ‘miracles,’ including setting fire to water and squeezing blood from a lemon.

The married 68-year-old is disputing the claims against him, insisting they are part of a financially motivated conspiracy and has denied being a ‘fake Guru’.

But giving evidence this week, one of his accusers told High Court judge, Mr Justice Martin Spencer, that she considered him a ‘devil’ following what he did to her.

Describing his followers as ‘puppets on a string,’ the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said: ‘He isn’t an incarnation of God, he is the devil.’

Rajinder Kalia allegedly ‘groomed’ members of his temple to believe he is ‘an incarnation of God,’ while subjecting women and underage girls to sexual abuse

Mr Kalia is head of the Sidh Baba Balak Nath Ji Society of Coventry, based on worship of Baba Balak Nath, a Hindu god

The London court heard Mr Kalia is head of the Sidh Baba Balak Nath Ji Society of Coventry, a religious organisation which professes the founding principles of the Hindu religion.

The sect is based on worship of Baba Balak Nath, a Hindu god whose main temple is in a cave in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, and who manifests as an eternally young blue-skinned boy riding a peacock.

The court heard Mr Kalia, who began preaching in 1983 after moving to the UK from India, claims to have experienced a miracle as a teenager which brought him closer to the divine.

Following a motorbike accident, he had been told he would never walk again, but found himself back on his feet after a visit to Himachal Pradesh, centre of worship of Baba Balak Nath.

‘He believes that this was a miracle and [this] increased his faith, particularly in the deity Baba Balak Nath,’ said his barrister Sarah Crowther KC.

But four women are now suing Mr Kalia over claims he sexually abused them, while they and three other former devotees also claim financial exploitation.

The former disciples want millions in compensation.

They claim Mr Kalia ‘portrayed himself as an incarnation of God and/or the divine’ through his performance of ‘purported miracles,’ including asserting he had a power of healing.

He claimed to be infallible, that his ‘utterances were to be obeyed without question’ and that to question his authority was to be unworthy, putting them ‘in dire peril of eternal damnation through a cycle of birth and rebirth.’

Sexual abuse began against three of the women when they were underage, it is claimed, while he allegeddly went on to rape some followers when they were young adults.

The court heard Mr Kalia, who began preaching in 1983 after moving to the UK from India, claims to have experienced a miracle as a teenager which brought him closer to the divine

Mr Kalia (pictured), who began preaching in 1983 after moving to the UK from India, claims to have experienced a miracle as a teenager

Giving evidence, one of the four women said she had been controlled by Mr Kalia from being a child, even when she was outside the UK.

‘I was told by the devil, Kalia, that I was not to have any relationship,’ the tearful accuser told the judge from the witness box.

‘When I went to India, I could feel him watching my every move. I was paranoid, I was scared.’

Speaking of members of the temple giving evidence on his behalf, she said: ‘They’re puppets on his string, but my string has been cut.

‘They will do anything he says, but he isn’t God. He isn’t an incarnation of God, he is the devil.

‘I was groomed by him to believe he was God, because I was a child when I went to him.’

As well as denying the allegations, lawyers for Mr Kalia say his accusers waited far too long to make their claims after the alleged events.

But the former disciple told that judge that, after abuse as a child, she had put her memories in a ‘box with a ribbon around it’ and ‘put it to sea’ before it was opened with her complaint to police in 2017.

‘Now that lid will not close and I don’t know how to make it close without any justice,’ she said.

Another alleged abuse victim told the judge of having seen Mr Kalia performing ‘miracles,’ rubbing his hands together to create red powder, with which he anointed members of the temple.

For the claimants, barrister Mark Jones said they claim to have been ‘wholly subject to the charismatic and forceful personality of the defendant.’

It meant their ability to freely consent to his demands for financial and – in the cases of four of the women – sexual benefits was overridden, he said.

‘Each of the claimants claims that they were subject to psychological domination by the defendant, being in thrall to him as their religious leader, and became accustomed to obeying without question his commands and the mores of the Society percolating from his teachings,’ he said.

‘Further, claimants one to four claim that they were subjected to – in some cases – sustained physical sexual abuse by the defendant, in circumstances where his influence over them vitiated their ability freely to consent, and in the cases of claimants two to four, commencing during their minority, when they were incapable of providing consent.’

As well as denying the allegations, lawyers for Mr Kalia (pictured) say his accusers waited far too long to make their claims

Mr Jones said one woman claims to have been sexually abused more than 1,320 times over two decades, while another – claiming abuse as a child – said it caused her to fail exams, before her virginity was taken aged 21.

A third said her virginity was taken in a rape in a Birmingham hotel and the fourth claims to have been hugged and kissed inappropriately when she was as young as four, before having her virginity taken as a young adult.

Three other claimants allege being subjected to financial abuse, costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds while part of the community.

But for Mr Kalia, Ms Crowther denied any wrongdoing and suggested that the claimants had come together to make a ‘fundamentally dishonest’ attempt to get money out of him.

‘The claimants, as with all attendees of the temple, have always lived their own lives in the wider community and freely chose to attend the temple and take part in the activities of its faith community,’ she said.

‘They participated willingly, for their own spiritual and personal benefit. They were free to come and go at any time of their choosing.

‘The allegations including those in respect of assault are untrue, fundamentally dishonest and the product of a conspiracy between the claimants to attempt to extort the defendant.

‘He has not harassed the claimants, but they have harassed other members of the community and sought to spread untruths about the defendant and recruit others to their conspiracy on the promise of financial reward.’

She added: ‘The defendant did not preach that he was divine or that he had any particular powers, such as ability to perform miracles or nor did he claim hold over the claimants’ lives.’

She argued that complaints by the women came simultaneously many years after the alleged events and that there were ‘substantial discrepancies’ between their cases in court and their complaints to the police.

‘Each of the claimants allege serious sexual assaults took place on a regular basis over many years in the ‘priest’s room’ at the temple,’ she continued.

‘The evidence shows that this ‘room’ was in fact part of a large open plan space which had no door and over which there were several vantage points, including from a balcony above.

‘It seems particularly strange that there was no contemporary complaint or other corroborative evidence when the temple was busy, with up to 200 people in the building.’

She added: ‘It seems likely that the content of the false allegations was inspired by a mixture of previous experiences of some of the group, and previous allegations they had made of sexual misconduct, unrelated to the defendant, as well as media and/or internet reports of ‘fake gurus’.’

But Mr Jones said the claim to compensation – the amount of which has not been finally calculated but which runs into the millions – only came after the CPS refused to prosecute Mr Kalia.

‘The defendant’s case theory of an entirely reprehensible conspiracy to extort money from him based upon false allegations fails adequately – or at all – to address this stark fact: no demand for payment of any sum was made to him prior to the complaints to police…in December 2016 and January 2017,’ he told the judge.

‘This is not, therefore, a case where the claimants effectively sought to blackmail the defendant with the threat of a report to police or other authorities if he did not pay them some money, against some manner of threat of reports of falsely concocted allegations.

‘Their civil claim came only long after the CPS declined to authorise that the defendant be charged and all subsequent requests for review of the charging decision had failed.’

The trial, which is expected to last more than three weeks, continues.