Following the orders of the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Police continued its raid in the sensational Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya ashram in Rohini’s Vijay Vihar area for the second day. Till the filing of this report on Thursday night, 41 minor girls had been rescued jointly by teams of Delhi Police and Delhi Commission for Women and an NGO. The 1,500-yard five-storey building is said to have a posh parking lot where 15 cars were parked, said locals on Thursday.
As per the women who had been rescued on Wednesday, Virender Dev Dixit raped 10 women a day and aspired to rape as many as 16,000. “He said that he was purifying our souls. By not letting us interact with the outside world, he said the only way to purify our souls was through physical intimacy. He often made remarks related to lord Krishna that like lord Krishna had 16,000 wives, he too controlled hundreds of women.”
Police sources said apart from several teams from Rohini police district, DCW members led by Swati Maliwal made sure that the minor girls and the women were medically examined at a medical counter set up outside the premises of the ashram. To ensure that the identities of the women and young girls were protected while being rescued, police had used sarees as blankets to let them come out.
While rescuing the 41 girls by clamping down on 14 doors, police teams faced a tough time from the ashram staff which opposed the police intervention.
The rescued women, stated to be under a state of trance, were stopped by the staff saying that the police are taking out women against their concent.
Based on the orders by the Delhi High Court on a petition that the ashram had illegally kept more than a hundred minor girls and women in uninhabitable conditions for more than 15 years, the police had conducted raids on Tuesday evening which had been continuing.
Shocking details of the young girls being kept in isolated rooms were given after girls rescued recalled their ordeal to their families.
locals living in the A block of the Vijay Vihar area came out and shared the details on Thursday afternoon.
Naresh Saini, a local resident told The Pioneer, “I have been living in Vijay Vihar for past ten years. The ashram has been functioning here. Scores of women escorted in black tinted glass cars used to come and leave the ashram premises at odd hours. Although I have never seen the godman, Virender Dev Dixit, his followers dressed in white were spotted.”
“Even though the young girls and women were not spotted in the area, we heard that they used to wear white blouse and pink saree,” Saini added
Saini further said, “The staff used to ask the locals to enroll in the spiritual courses. Duration of these courses spanned from one week to 15 days. Even I participated in their spiritual course for a month and a half. I was always surrounded by the ashram staff and taken to the second floor where a big auditorium was located-prayer meetings and bhajans used to take place. The ashram also offered courses which claimed to help a person seek union with the almighty through a rigorous 15 day course for which they sent us to their Farukhabad ashram.”
On being asked if the locals grew suspicious over the workings of the ashram, Saini added, “It was a peaceful ashram but yes the barbed wires, the presence of security guards on every floor and the wails and cries of the families of women and girls raised suspicion. We often complained to the local police. The local police too were sent away when they came to enquire about the girls.”
Till late Thursday evening, teams under DCP Rohini Rajneesh Gupta were inside the ashram and trying to convince the women to come out. Swati Maliwal too is stated to be inside the ashram since 11 am.