Delhi 'Baba' Chaitanyananda Saraswati Accused Of Mass Molestation: What We Know So Far

Self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati, also known as Swami Parthasarathy, who allegedly sexually harassed 17 women students at a private institute in Delhi, was arrested in Agra early on Sunday. A Delhi Police team traced Saraswati (62) to a hotel in Agra from where he was arrested at around 3.30 a.m.

He had fled Delhi after the complaint submitted on Aug. 4 alleged that he had sexually harassed the female students, specifically those of Economic Weaker Sections (EOW) quota.

Saraswati, a former chairman of the Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management (SRISIIM) campus in Delhi, allegedly forced female students to visit his quarters late at night and sent them inappropriate text messages at odd hours, according to an FIR.

Saraswati's modus operandi involved summoning students to his quarters at night, sending explicit messages, and threatening them with academic failure if they resisted.

At the institute, students were forced to deposit their original certificates, which were returned only after the course was completed, a rule that left them feeling trapped and cast a shadow on their careers. If anyone dared to resist or complain, they worried their certificates might never be returned, a friend of the victim told news agency PTI.

Investigators also found that he installed hidden cameras in the hostel, including outside bathrooms, to monitor female students.

Police said Saraswati's office was designed to resemble a luxury suite to impress the women who would visit him. He gave them expensive gifts, including jewellery, and asked them to share photos and videos of them doing yoga. A CCTV monitoring app was also found on his mobile phone through which he kept track of female students on the campus and in the hostel.

Saraswati was also found to have secretly clicked photos of women and staff, engaged in lewd chats, and spied on students through a CCTV monitoring app. The seizure of the self-styled godman's phone revealed a disturbing pattern of predatory behaviour. It had secretly taken photos of students and staff, as well as several photos with female flight stewards and screenshots of display pictures of women.

"Chats from just days before his arrest showed him soliciting women. In one exchange, he asked a woman to seduce him and sent hugging and kissing emojis to her. He also made an online payment to her for the act. He lured women with promises of jobs as flight stewards or positions at his institute and used these pretexts to initiate conversations," an officer told news agency PTI.

He along with his three female aides, allegedly threatened victims and forced them to delete his lewd messages. One of them served as the Dean of the institute, and the other two were wardens.

The cops recovered what they described as a "sex toy" and five CDs that possibly contain pornographic material. A separate police team also visited locations in Uttarakhand's Almora and Bageshwar, where Saraswati hid to escape arrest after the scandal broke last week.

He frequently name-dropped influential personalities to shield himself and threatened police in the name of the Chief Justice of India and falsely claimed links with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to gain influence and support.

A digitally-altered photographs of him posing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former United States President Barack Obama, and a politician from the United Kingdom was also found from his lair in the ashram, Delhi Police sources told NDTV.

Chaitanyananda Saraswati's leaked WhatsApp chat's went viral where he allegedly attempted to arrange a "sex partner" for a "Dubai Sheikh," repeatedly pressing a victim to find a "nice friend," "classmate," or "Junior" for the role. He explicitly asked a student, "You'll not sleep with me?"

According to NDTV, Saraswati sent frequent, obsessive messages to victims at all hours of the day and night (e.g., "Baby, where are you?" at 11:59 p.m.), using highly inappropriate and demeaning terms like "Sweetie Baby Daughter Doll" and "my most beloved baby daughter doll."

The Delhi police said Saraswati was not cooperating in the investigation and tried to mislead interrogators on several occasions. "He has shown no remorse for his actions and has been giving evasive replies," a police officer told news agency PTI.

Saraswati has repeatedly lied during interrogation, even when he was confronted with evidence, police said. He responds, reluctantly, only when shown documents and digital proof, they said.

The allegations extend beyond harassment. Saraswati is accused of siphoning crores of rupees from the institute, withdrawing around Rs 55 lakh from a bank account after an FIR was filed, and even obtaining a forged passport under a different name. Police have since frozen accounts and deposits worth nearly Rs 8 crore.