Delhi HC seeks presence of woman living in ashram of self-styled absconding godman, accused of multiple rape cases

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has sought the presence of a woman residing in an ashram founded by self-styled godman Virender Dev Dixit, who has been absconding for several years while facing multiple rape cases.

The woman's -- aged parents -- have expressed concerns, alleging that their educated daughter was being misled and suffering from "overvalued ideas" in the ashram without their consent.

The bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, said that the daughter, being an adult, cannot be forced to meet her parents.

The parents had urged the court to facilitate an interaction with their daughter.

The petitioners sought directions for a psychological analysis of their daughter, referring to a report by a committee headed by the Principal District & Sessions Judge of Rohini regarding the ashram residents' status.

The amicus curiae in the matter stated that the daughter, an adult of sound mind, had expressed her willingness to stay in the ashram and had already been examined by psychologists in 2018.

The court ordered the daughter to be present in court for interaction in January 2024, suggesting that an assessment be made before passing further orders.

The parents had filed the petition in 2020, seeking the release of their daughter from the ashram, citing concerns about the ashram's founder being accused of serious crimes.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on November 24 told the Delhi High Court that it is working on locating and arresting Dixit.

Even earlier, the court had expressed satisfaction with the attempts and progress made by CBI in the matter.

Last time, as the division bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna perused the probe agency's status report, it observed that the CBI was making “ernest efforts” to comply with the court’s directions.

The status report was filed in a sealed cover, and the court was told that the accused seems to be outside India.

"We will arrest him soon. We have taken help of Interpol,” CBI's counsel told.

The court then also asked the investigating agency to file a fresh status report.

Earlier, the high court had granted the agency permission to freeze the bank accounts Dixit.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma (now elevated to SC) and Justice Sanjeev Narula had expressed satisfaction with the efforts made by the CBI to locate and apprehend Dixit.

A petition was filed in 2017 by NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment, which alleged that Dixit had illegally confined several minor girls and women at his “spiritual university" and that the girls were not allowed to meet their parents.

Notably, the agency had identified certain bank accounts linked to the fugitive.

The court had commended the CBI's ongoing efforts and allowed them to proceed with freezing the bank accounts in accordance with the law. It granted the CBI an additional six weeks to continue their actions and listed the matter for next hearing in November.

On May 31, the court had directed the CBI to take steps to apprehend Dixit. It was brought to the court's attention that Dixit or his followers were uploading videos on various platforms, including YouTube and social media, despite him being a fugitive.

The high court had instructed the CBI to locate Dixit and investigate accusations of illegal confinement, with reports indicating that girls and women were being kept in inhumane conditions behind metal doors within a fortress-like ashram surrounded by barbed wire.

In 2022, the court had asked the ashram to justify why it should not be taken over by the Delhi government and expressed doubts about whether the inmates were living there voluntarily.

It had said that no institution had the right to violate the fundamental rights of its inhabitants.

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