Journalism of Courage
Three women aides of self-styled godman Chaitanyanand Saraswati, who has been arrested for the alleged sexual harassment of 17 female students at an institute in South Delhi, were arrested and later released on bail on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Associate Dean Shweta Sharma, Executive Director Bhawna Kapil and Senior Faculty Kajal, were booked for abetment, threatening, and destruction of evidence, police said.
On Tuesday, police had questioned them face to face with Chaitanyanand.
Police said that during questioning, the three admitted that they followed the directions of 62-year-old Chaitanyanand and pressured students on the pretext of discipline and punctuality. They also allegedly threatened the victims and made them delete Chaitanyanand’s lewd messages from their phones.
A police team in Almora had visited the alleged guest house where Chaitanyanand had reportedly stayed with girl students, a senior officer said. Digital evidence recovered from mobile phones reportedly showed him making inappropriate comments on photos of students shared in a yoga group on WhatsApp.
Chaitanyananda had served as Chancellor of Vasant Kunj-based Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management-Research run by Sri Sri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham in Karnataka’s Sringeri. The religious organisation had expelled him in August — before the allegations of women students became public — for misappropriation of funds. He was arrested from Agra last Sunday after being on the run.
