Indian ‘godman’ goes missing as young girls found locked up in prison-like conditions at spiritual retreats
Members from the state-run Child Welfare Committee and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) freed scores of minors and women last week from several ashrams in Delhi run by Virendra Dev Dikshit
A self-proclaimed “godman” may have trafficked and enslaved dozens of women including minors at several retreats in Delhi and across the country, officials said, in the latest case of an Indian spiritual leader accused of sexual abuse.
Women and young girls were found in locked rooms at several ashrams, or spiritual communities, across Delhi, said Ajay Verma, a lawyer appointed by the Delhi High Court to prepare a preliminary report.
“Of the more than 100 women we found, we perceived several to be minors,” he said.
“Rooms at these premises were locked from the outside, and we had to break the locks to gain access.”
Calls to the main ashram seeking comment were not returned.
Members from the state-run Child Welfare Committee and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) freed scores of minors and women last week from several ashrams in Delhi run by Virendra Dev Dikshit, who is missing, Verma said.
Inspections of Dikshit’s other properties are underway, he said.