A day after a woman accused Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Kartik Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, of rape on the pretext of giving her a job, details of her complaint suggest that the abuse lasted at least a decade and involved people from the monk’s ashram who forced the victim to undergo an abortion.
In her complaint, the woman has said that she met Kartik Maharaj in 2012 when he offered her a job at Chanak Adivasi Abasik Balika Vidyalaya, in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, where, she alleged, he raped her. HT has seen a copy of her complaint. The complainant has further alleged that she received a call from Kartik Maharaj on June 12, and he asked her to meet him on June 13 near Berhampore Correctional Home.
“I talked to Kartik Maharaj over the phone on June 12. Two men from the ashram came to see me on June 13 and said they would take me to Beldanga. When I boarded their car, these men threatened me and asked me not to contact Kartik Maharaj ever again. Thereafter they pushed me out of the vehicle and drove off,” the three-page complain written in Bengali said. Based on her complaint, an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was filed at the Lalbagh police station in Murshidabad district on Thursday and ASP Raspreet Singh said probe was underway. However, the Murshidabad police was yet to take any action against the monk till the time of going to print.
Addressing a public event in at Beldanga Kartik Maharaj sought to defend himself. “I can only say that monks are not allowed to spend nights at the women’s hostel of the ashram,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing a public event in at Beldanga Kartik Maharaj sought to defend himself. “I can only say that monks are not allowed to spend nights at the women’s hostel of the ashram,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Of the nine Padma Shri awardees from West Bengal this year, Kartik Maharaj was virtually an unknown figure till May 2024, when a row erupted after chief minister Mamata Banerjee targeted a section of monks during her campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP’s Berhampore unit chief Malay Mahajan defended the seer: “This is dirty politics by TMC which wants to defame Kartik Maharaj. The Hindus will retaliate.” TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “No sin can be washed off or justified… Law should take its course without seeing his faith.”