The owner of an ashram in Shukertal allegedly sexually harassed four children and forced them to work as laborers.
Swami Bhakti Bhushan Govind Maharaj was arrested when he was trying to escape from his ashram.
A case has been registered against him under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 377 (unnatural offenses), 504 ( intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and sections 5/6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act, said Additional District Magistrate Amit Kumar.
He has denied all the charges against him claiming that he was falsely implicated in this case.
A team from the childcare helpline and the police rescued 8 children followed by another two on 7 July, 2020.
The children were from Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam and aged between 7 to 10 years.
A medical examination confirmed that four of the children were sexually harassed.
When the district authorities informed the parents of the victims about the alleged sexual harassment by the ashram’s owner, they claimed that he even forced them to lay bricks as part of manual labor.
Source: PTI