NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered inspection of an ashram run by self-styled preacher Virendra Dev Dixit of Rohini Ashram, who was declared as an offender in a sexual exploitation case and has been absconding for several years.
Dealing with a plea by the mother of a woman who was said to be residing in the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya ashram, the court observed there were serious allegations of rape against Dixit. The bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait asked the State to file a status report on the matter.
“Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidhyalaya has only five girls including respondent no. 6 (the daughter). Since there is an FIR under serious offence against the in-charge, we hereby direct the State to inspect the said ashram along with SDM and DCP concerned. Fresh status report should be filed,” the bench, also comprising Justice Manoj Jain, ordered.
A 2017 petition filed by NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment, represented by lawyer Sravan Kumar, alleged several minor girls and women were illegally confined at the “spiritual university” run by Dixit and not allowed to meet their parents.
The High Court was told by the woman’s daughter, produced during the hearing, that she was an adult and residing in the ashram on her own accord. Listing the matter for further hearing on January 24, the high court asked the petitioner’s daughter not to leave the ashram in the meantime.
In the previous hearing, the high court had directed the CBI to take steps to arrest Dixit after it was brought to its notice that he or his followers were uploading videos on YouTube channels and social media.
The court had asked the CBI to trace Dixit, the founder of the ashram, and directed the agency to probe the “illegal confinement” of girls and women at the ashram where they were allegedly kept in “animal-like” conditions behind metal doors in “fortress” surrounded by barbed wire.