Chaitanyanand allegedly targeted EWS female students at Sri Sharda Institute, luring them at night and threatening academic harm; police dubbed his room the “torture room.”
New Delhi
A Delhi court on Friday remanded ‘Swami’ Chaitanyanand Saraswati — accused of molesting 17 women students — to 14-day judicial custody. The accused, also known as Partha Sarathy, was produced before the Patiala House Court after the expiry of his earlier five-day police custody.
Chaitanyanand, director of the Sri Sharda Institute of Indian Management in Vasant Kunj, is alleged to have targeted female postgraduate students under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) scholarship. He allegedly lured them to his room late at night and threatened to fail or downgrade them. Police termed a ground-floor room in the institute the “torture room,” where these abuses reportedly occurred.
The case surfaced in early August after 17 women filed complaints at the Defence Colony Police Station. Chaitanyanand fled on August 4 and was arrested on September 28 at an Agra hotel. Investigations revealed disturbing details, including sexually explicit WhatsApp chats spanning 16 years and possible deletion of CCTV footage. The DVR has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination. Statements from three wardens are on record, and two female associates of the accused have been detained for questioning.
Police also seized Chaitanyanand’s luxury Volvo car, finding multiple forged number plates bearing fake United Nations insignia. He claimed to be a BRICS Commission Member and “Permanent Ambassador” on visiting cards recovered during the probe. Police are examining his access to CCTV and connections over the last two decades.