Prayagraj: Swami Avimukteshwaran and Saraswati on Tuesday sought anticipatory bail from the Allahabad High Court after they were charged with allegedly sexually harassing minors and other offences.
A notice was sent to the government advocate’s office in this regard before filing the application in the court, sources said.
An FIR was lodged at the Jhunsi police station in Prayagraj against Saraswati and his disciple Mukundananda Brahmachari for allegedly sexually abusing two persons, including a minor, during the past year.
According to the FIR, the complainants included Ashutosh Brahmachari Maharaj and two others – one of them a minor – who alleged that they sexually abused the accused at the gurukula and during religious gatherings, including the recently concluded Magh Mela in Prayagraj.
The action on Saturday followed the order of Special Judge (POCSO Act), Prayagraj, who ordered that a case be registered on a petition filed by Ashutosh Brahmachari and others.
An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) and the BNS, officials said.
Apart from Saraswati and Mukundanand, two to three unidentified persons were also named in the complaint.
It has been alleged that the accused, posing as a religious teacher, subjected the minor and another youth to repeated sexual assault over the last one year on numerous occasions.
Saraswati recently grabbed headlines for his confrontation with Magh Mela organizers in Prayagraj, whom he accused of preventing him from taking a bath on Mauni Amavasya.
Speaking to reporters from the Vidya Math in Varanasi, Saraswati said that some lawyers had approached him offering help, but he had no information about any steps they could take.
He also showed a photograph and claimed that a police officer from Prayagraj was at the center of a “conspiracy” against him.
The picture showed the officer cutting the cake with Ashutosh Brahmachari standing next to him.
He also alleged that the administration and the police started taking action against him on January 18 at the same time as Mauni Amavasya.
Despite provisions mandating immediate registration of FIRs under the POCSO Act, the police did not file the case themselves and instead acted only on the basis of a court order, he alleged.
Focusing more on legal rulings than evidence, the court order alleged and suggested that someone was supporting Ashutosh Brahmachari.
He also alleged that Varanasi Development Authority officials recently conducted a survey of the Vidya Math and alleged that the “whole system” was being used against him to pressurize him to withdraw from the cow protection campaign, which he said he would not do.
