Thursday, 12 December, 2002, BBCNEWS.COM

A Hindu guru accused of raping one of his followers and indecently assaulting a teenage girl is facing a retrial after a jury could not decide whether he is guilty.

Gulabnath Balaknath denied forcing a woman to have sex with him while he was staying at her home on a visit from India to Leicester to preach his faith in May.

He also pleaded not guilty to assaulting a 13-year-old girl a year earlier as she sat on a bed at a house in Milton Keynes watching her friend play computer games.

The jury of eight men and four women failed to reach a verdict after more than seven hours of deliberations at Leicester Crown Court.

The 71-year-old, also known as Bapu, meaning priest, was bailed to an address in West Sussex for a retrial to be held on 17 February.

He was told he must not return to his homeland in India.