Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 24: Multiple police teams are carrying out raids across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and a lookout circular has been issued against Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, who has been accused of harassing 17 women students in a private institute in Delhi, the police said on Wednesday.
“A lookout circular (LOC) has been issued against him to prevent any attempt to flee the country,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said. Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, the former head of the private management college in New Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Sri Sharda Institute of Indian Management, has been on the run for over a month.
The management of the college has accused Saraswati of engaging in “illegal, inappropriate, and detrimental” activities.
“As a result…[institution] has severed all ties with him…and lodged complaints with the relevant authorities regarding illegal acts committed…,” it said in a statement.
Mr Goel said the college administrator filed a complaint against Saraswati on August 4. The complaint, the institute alleged that the self-style godman was sexually harassing students pursuing courses under scholarships for economically weaker sections. “…statements of 32 female students were recorded. Out of which, 17 alleged that they received obscene WhatsApp messages…the accused [used abusive language]…”
Goel added that the students have also accused Saraswati of unwanted physical contact. “The students alleged that women faculty and administrators pressured the girls to comply with his demands.”
During a search, the police also seized a car from the basement of the college, which was using a forged diplomatic number plate, over which a separate cheating and forgery case has been registered against Saraswati by the police on August 25. The self-styled godman also known as Parthsarthy, was working as the institute’s director but has gone absconding following cases of sexual harassment and forgery against him.
Saraswati allegedly molested girl students pursuing PGDM courses under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) scholarship there.
After the molestation case against him surfaced, the Sri Sri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham severed all ties with him. The body said the activities Partha Sarthy engaged in were “illegal, inappropriate, and detrimental” to its interests.
The first complaint against the self-styled godman was filed on August 4 at the Vasant Kunj North Police Station, and a separate cheating and forgery case was lodged on August 25, following the vehicle’s discovery.
Police recorded statements from 32 female PGDM students enrolled under the EWS scholarship at the institute, 17 of whom alleged that Saraswati used abusive language, sent obscene messages, and made unwanted physical advances towards them.
Police said they examined CCTV footage, carried out raids, and material seized from the institute has been sent for forensic analysis.
‘Come to my room… I’ll take you on a trip abroad, you won’t have to pay anything’ – such sleazy messages were sent by Saraswati to young women entrusted to his care as the ‘director’ of the institution. WhatsApp messages found on the mobile phones of 50 women from the institute have uncovered details of the abuse dozens of women suffered over the past 16 years.
In one message ‘Swami Chaitanyananda’ lures a woman by promising her wealth. In another he threatens someone else with poor marks; “… if you don’t obey me, I will fail you…” he said. Based on the investigation so far, and the recovered texts, police believe ‘Swami Chaitanyananda’, born Parthsarthy in Odisha, has been preying on women for at least 16 years, emboldened by escaping two previously filed molestation cases, in 2009 and 2016.
What is horrifying is that the second case was filed by a young woman from the same Vasant Kunj ashram, and no action, it appears, was taken, either by the police or ashram authorities. Police sources said the ‘godman’ would reach out to his victims via WhatsApp phone calls or messages. In many cases the first messages do not reflect threats. If his early texts did not elicit the response he wanted, the ‘Swami’ would then turn to blackmail about marks.
The women he targeted were from Economically Weaker Sections, or EWS, police said, possibly because the ‘Swami’ knew neither the women nor their families would speak up. He was reportedly assisted in his horrid designs by three female wardens, all of whom may have also cajoled and bullied the abused women via WhatsApp messages and calls. The wardens’ statements have been recorded.
Saraswati was in London when this scandal broke – 17 women filed a complaint at Delhi’s Defence Colony Police Station in early August – and was last seen in Agra, the police said. Two earlier cases – the ones from 2009 and 2016 – are also on the books. The first relates to molestation and fraud; he was briefly arrested in connection on this charge.
The ‘godman’ also faces two other charges. One relates to the use of a fake diplomatic number plate – for a United Nations vehicle – on a saffron-coloured Volvo sedan found at the ashram and reportedly used by him. In fact, multiple fake plates were recovered. The fifth is for fraudulent conduct. This follows a complaint by the ashram itself. Ashram authorities said they had ‘expelled’ the ‘godman’ after the sex assault allegations broke.
The students claimed that some wardens working at the ashram had introduced them to the accused. The police have also analysed CCTV footage and carried out raids at the place of the crime as well as the accused’s address. The National Commission for Women (NCW) has already taken suo motu cognisance in the case.
The unit he headed (in Delhi) is a branch of a prominent religious body from South India, the Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetha in Sringeri. It issued a statement stating that Swami Chaityananda’s conduct and activities have been illegal, inappropriate, and against the Peetha’s interests. Consequently, it said it has severed all ties with the accused. The Delhi unit functioned in two batches, each with over 35 students.
