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No-onion, no-garlic meals among jail facilities granted to sexual abuse accused ‘godman’ Saraswati
Delhi court granted Chaitanyananda Saraswati interim relief, permitting him access to medicines, spectacles and food without onion and garlic.
A Delhi court has granted self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati interim relief with some facilities in jail, such as access to medicines, spectacles, and food without onion and garlic.
Last week on October 3, Judicial Magistrate Animesh Kumar had sought Delhi Police's response on Saraswati's application, and on Wednesday granted some of this pleas.
Chaitanyananda Saraswati is accused of molesting at least 17 female students at a Delhi-based private management institute that he formerly headed. He is in judicial custody now.
The court has further sought a detailed response to his plea for permission to to wear monk robes and keep spiritual books while in custody. His counsel has also made a plea for extra bedding, on which a decision is thus pending.
New details emerged last week against Saraswati, the 62-year-old former chairman of Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management-Research. WhatsApp chats attributed to him suggested a wider pattern of harassment and manipulation of female students.
One of the alleged chats had him asking a student to arrange for a “sex partner” for a Dubai sheikh. “Do you have a nice friend?” he asked the student in the chat. He purportedly persisted with his demand, asking “how is this possible” when the student refused, and sought out a “classmate” or a “junior”.
He was arrested from a hostel in Agra on September 27 after being on the run for several days.
Earlier, police said that Saraswati's phone had discreetly-taken photos of female students. Three phones and other devices are under the scanner.
He is also accused of deceiving women by falsely promising them jobs as air hostesses. “We checked his phone and found that he had made his office like a hotel suite. He would give gifts, phones, laptops, jewellery and would take students for foreign trips,” a police officer told HT on condition of anonymity.
He also asked female students to send their photos while doing yoga, the officer added. "He was using a London-based mobile number for his WhatsApp and other apps to communicate with girls," another investigator, who requested anonymity told HT.
