A Delhi court, while hearing the bail plea of self-styled godman Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati on Monday, noted that the number of victims present in the molestation case against him increased the gravity of the offence by multifold. “The gravity of the offence increases multifold because of the number of victims … there are 16 victims. It is possible to induce one, two, possibly even three, but how is it possible to persuade all 16?” Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Deepti Devesh of Patiala House Court said. Chaitanyananda, who has been accused of molesting 16 female students, is currently in judicial custody. He had served as the 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. He was arrested from a hotel in Agra on September 28 this year. The arrest followed allegations levelled by the students who said that Chaitanyananda made “unwanted physical contact” with them. After his arrest, the accused was brought to Delhi and produced in a trial court, which remanded him in police custody for five days. “He had given them threats. (CCTV) cameras were installed to monitor their movements… some were installed in bathrooms,” the prosecution told ASJ Devesh on Monday. “The allegations are that he put colours on his disciples on Holi, and he had handshakes with them. Please look at the allegations. There are no sexual offences,” said Chaitanyananda’s counsel. “The statements of victims, all 16 of them — are they not substantive evidence?,” the Judge said. Another FIR over alleged embezzlement and misappropriation of funds totalling Rs 20 crore was lodged against the self-styled godman on July 25 based on a complaint from the religious body that runs the private institute where he was the chancellor. The counsel of the accused maintained that he has been falsely implicated. According to the FIR, Chaitanyananda allegedly forced female students to visit his quarter late at night, and sent them inappropriate text messages at odd hours. He also allegedly tracked the movements of students through his phone. The Investigating Officer in the case told the court, “Three women are also involved. They forced the students to delete (WhatsApp) chats.” The bail hearing was adjourned and will now be heard on October 27.
