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Not first molestation case against Chaitanyananda, ‘godman’ booked twice before
Police officials said the students were threatened with suspension and having their degrees withheld if they resisted his advances.
Self-styled godman Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly sexually harassing 17 students at a Delhi-based private institute, had previously been booked for molestation and fraud in 2009 and 2016.
A case of fraud and molestation was registered against him at the Defence Colony police station in 2009, while another molestation complaint was filed at the Vasant Kunj police station in 2016, PTI reported, citing police sources.
According to the FIR, in the case of sexually harassing students at the Delhi-based institute, female students of Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management were allegedly forced to visit Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati’s quarters late at night, and one student was even coerced into changing her name.
The FIR was filed after the institute’s management lodged a complaint, alleging that during a virtual interaction with more than 30 female students, several of them disclosed instances of sexual harassment and intimidation by Chaitanyananda, previously known as Swami (Dr.) Parthasarathy.
Citing the FIR, police officials said the students were threatened with suspension and withholding of degrees if they resisted his advances.
“The students who are from economically weaker sections were forced to visit Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati in his quarters late at night,” the FIR read.
The institute’s management further alleged that a female student was “forced to change her name” and was made to delete messages from her phone to erase evidence.
Police said Saraswati had been continuously changing his appearance and hideouts, with more than five teams working to trace him. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said he was finally apprehended in Agra late on Saturday and is being brought to Delhi.
Police said that during the investigation, CCTV footage was analysed and several raids were conducted at the site of the incident as well as at the addresses of the accused.
They added that NVRs and hard disks were collected from the SriSIIM institute and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), and statements of 17 victims were recorded before the magistrate at Patiala House Court.
With PTI inputs
