Delhi: High Court asks CBI to investigate claims of sexual assault at ashram in Rohini
The court’s order comes after an NGO filed a petition claiming minors and young women were confined and assaulted at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to inspect an ashram in north Delhi’s Rohini area, after allegations that children and young women were being sexually assaulted and illegally confined there, PTI reported.
The order comes after the parents of three girls and an NGO moved the court claiming many young women were raped at the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya and several had committed suicide but no case was ever registered, The Times of India reported.
A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar on Wednesday said it was “extremely dangerous if the allegations that girls were confined in the name of God had any truth”. The bench asked the CBI director to set up a special investigation team and seize all records from the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya.
A day earlier, the high court had asked the police to inspect the ashram, and record the inspection on video. It asked Delhi Commission for Women’s chief Swati Maliwal to accompany the police.
In a separate order, the court also asked Virender Dev Dixit, who claims to be the founder of the Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya to cooperate with the police, on a plea by the NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment.