Continuing their raids on ashrams run by self-styled godman Virender Dev Dixit, a team led by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Monday visited two of Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya ashrams, one in Northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar and the other in Outer Delhi’s Nangloi.
At Karawal Nagar ashram, the DCW team found six girls kept in pitiable condition in a small prison-like cell whose doors were locked. The DCW said registers were not maintained at ashrams to record from where the girls came from and for how long they have been there. Moreover, the girls didn’t divulge any information to the DCW team. Three girls appeared to be minor. The concerned Child Welfare Committee has been requested to shift them to shelter homes to ensure their counselling.
At Nangloi ashram, the DCW team found around 15 women. There were no minors there, but locals told the DCW that 20 girls were shifted from the ashram in the morning. After the raid, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said, “It appears that the baba is running a human trafficking racket. CBI should urgently conduct raids at all ashrams of Virender Dikshit across India. By delaying raids, the CBI is giving the baba time to cover up his misdeeds. His teachings are evil. He persuades female disciples to sleep with him so that they don’t get bad dreams. These ashrams should be closed down.”
Hours before the raid at the Nangloi ashram, The Pioneer went inside the two-storey building of the ashram on
Monday afternoon and spoke to the women who had been visiting the ashram for past one and a half years. Dimly-lit stairs lead to the first floor with three rooms. On a verandah in the middle of these rooms, a middle-aged woman sits and asks the reporter to sign in details in a register.
Kamla Devi, one of the followers and owner of the building, told The Pioneer that minor girls do not live in the ashram. Unlike the previous raids on the ashrams at Vijay Vihar and Uttam Nagar, neem leaves, not drugs, were found.
On being asked if these are drugs, Kamla said, “These are neem leaves and are used for their medicinal values.”