Statements of 32 students were recorded, out of which, 17 accused Chaitanyananda Saraswati of sending them obscene messages and using abusive language.
A self-styled godman named Chaitanyananda Saraswati alias Dr Parthasarathy has been accused of sexually harassing 17 students of a management college he is a former chairman of in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj .
The 62-year-old accused has been on the run for a month now, after he was booked for sexual harassment charges by students of Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management in August, said police on Wednesday.
The institute is run by Sri Sri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham. The organisation, which has ashrams and educational institutions across nine states, has distanced itself from the accused.
Also read: Fugitive monk facing multiple molestation and fraud cases, say police
Lookout circular issued
A lookout circular was issued to prevent him from fleeing abroad and several teams have been formed to look for him, said police. The National Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter.
According to some officials, this is not the first time the accused is facing such allegations. He had been booked in similar cases earlier as well, however, he was never arrested, as reported by Hindustan Times earlier. Police records show that the accused is already facing five cases, including that of fraud and molestation dating back to 2009 and a molestation case filed in 2016.
What are the allegations against Chaitanyananda Saraswati?
Chaitanyananda Saraswati has been accused of targeting students studying at the institute under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota and threatening to fail them in exams if they refused his advances. The police also said that the accused would lure students under the pretext of taking them for foreign trips.
Also read: Delhi ‘monk’ case: Another student harassed, pressurised into dropping out
Statements of as many as 32 students have been recorded, out of which, 17 accused Chaitanyananda Saraswati of sending them obscene messages and using abusive language.
The complaint against the accused was filed on August 4 by the college administrator, according to deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel.
“During inquiry, statements of 32 female students were recorded. Seventeen of them alleged they received obscene WhatsApp messages, dealt with abusive language from the accused and unwanted physical contact,” Goel said.
According to the FIR, the victims were “pressured” to give into the accused’s demands by not just him but also his “co-conspirators”, including female faculty and staff at the college.
According to investigators, the accused also threatened those who would not comply with his demands with academic failure. “One student was told she would fail all her exams unless she listened to ‘Swami’. Another was asked for ‘personal meetings’ to help in her studies and career,” an investigator told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.
Who is Chaitanyananda Saraswati?
Chaitanyananda Saraswati is a self-styled godman who has also written some 28 books. According to ResearchGate, a professional network for scientists and researchers, Chaitanyananda Saraswati is “a Monk of the Santana Vedic Tradition of Arsha Vidya Order, Shankara Lineage.”
His description on the website adds that he is a senior disciple of “Pujyasri Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji of Arsha Vidya, under whose tutelage for more than 12 years Sri Swamiji had studied the RRASTHANATRAYA OF SHATRAS, three canonical texts of Indian Knowledge System (IKS) having epistemic authority, especially of the Vedanta schools, namely the Upanishads the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita.”
Chaitanyananda Saraswati is also described as a “noted professor”.
The police suspect that the accused’s last location could be Agra or somewhere in Uttarakhand where he would frequently go for speeches or other engagements.
Apart from sexual harassment complaints, the accused is also facing charge of forgery after the police discovered a Volvo car with a forged diplomatic number plate in the college. After nine more such forged plates were seized, a second FIR was filed against the accused on August 25 under charges of cheating and forgery.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
