Police have arrested a controversial spiritual guru on a rape charge made by a teenage girl in north-west India.

Asaram Bapu was arrested at a spiritual retreat in central India early today and flown to the city of Jodhpur where police say he is wanted for raping a 16-year-old girl.

The girl filed a complaint two weeks ago accusing the Hindu religious preacher of raping her when she visited his retreat in Jodhpur with her mother. Asaram Bapu has denied the charge.

Asaram Bapu outraged many Indians earlier this year when he said the victim of a gang rape on a New Delhi bus would have been let off if she had addressed her attackers as brothers and pleaded with them to spare her.

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