Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati, or Partha Sarathy, has been arrested by Delhi police from Agra after being charged with molesting at least seventeen women belonging to his Delhi ashram and an educational institution he managed. The case was exposed when some students of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, where many of them were admitted under the Economically Weaker Section scholarship quota, spoke out. They alleged that Chaitanyananda not only sent them obscene messages and verbal insults but also made improper physical advances. Certain students reported that they were threatened with academic consequences if they did not reciprocate his advances, and accusations have been made that members of the staff and faculty abetted his actions by coercing students into silence.
The probe has brought to light deeply disturbing facts. Police found that the accused had placed hidden cameras within the women’s hostel related to the institute, apparently using the recordings to spy on and regulate the occupants. Testimonies also show that he coerced at least one of his students into changing her name as part of the coercive methods. To add to the suspicion of his activities, police discovered a red Volvo car in the institute’s basement, equipped with an imitation diplomatic-style number plate similar to that of the United Nations. Investigators suspect that he employed the car and the imitation plate to extend his influence and avoid detection.
When the allegations were lodged and the scandal started coming out, Chaitanyananda went into hiding. Delhi police mounted widespread search operations in Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region to apprehend him. His actions were traced to Agra, where he was eventually arrested from a hotel. In light of the magnitude of the charges and his efforts at evasion, the arrest was viewed as crucial in restraining him from going further underground or destroying evidence.
Officials are now scanning electronic equipment, CCTV recordings, and records apprehended from the ashram and the institute to construct the case. Testimonies of the victims, teaching staff, and attendants are being taken as part of the investigation. Most of the women who stepped forward were at first reluctant due to fear but were motivated by the increasing support of alumni and activists who had raised alarm about the institution in the first place. One whistleblower, through an email to the Indian Air Force, has reportedly initiated a broader investigation into Chaitanyananda’s operations.
The arrest has evoked serious questions about the efficiency of educational and spiritual institutions running in the name of faith or service but with a lack of check. It has also evoked wrath that such malpractice could go on for so long, with alleged connivance from within the institution itself. Following Chaitanyananda’s being taken into custody, the Delhi police have said that the case would be followed up with the seriousness it demands and further arrests of his accomplices could be made.
