Lucknow: A special POCSO court in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Saturday ordered registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and one of his aides, Mukundanand Giri, over alleged role in sexual exploitation of two children at his ashram.
The FIR, lodged under Section 173 (4) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), documents shocking details of the sexual exploitation of two minors at Swami Avimukteshwaranand’s Ashram by the seer himself and his associates.
The complaint against Swami Avimukteshwaranand and his disciple has been filed by Ashutosh Brahmachari Maharaj from Tulsi Kunj.
The complainant alleges that the two minor male children, aged 14 and 17 years, were subjected to sexual abuse repeatedly at the ashram of Swami Avimukteshwaranand by himself and his aides for more than a year.
He claims that the matter was revealed after the two minor victims approached him during the Magh mela, confided in him about their sexual exploitation, and also sought his assistance in seeking police protection.
The victims, expressing desire to become his disciple, told him that they were sexually abused, even during the Maha Kumbh 2025 and the Magh Mela 2026 and were asked to take this as “guru seva” and they will reap the benefits of this in future.
The complainant further alleges that the two minors were coerced and threatened to sleep without clothes at the Ashram, either single or together, and then they were sexually exploited at night.
“Even during the recent Magh mela, Swami Avimukteshwaranand sexually abused the minor victims inside a parked car and also inside the makeshift camp,” claims the FIR.
It was only after the victims escaped the seer’s ‘captivity’ and reached Ashutosh Brahmachari Maharaj’s Ashram that the latter became aware of the Swami Avimukteshwaranand’s sexual escapades and lodged a complaint against him with the Prayagraj police.
Meanwhile, Swami Avimukteshwaranand has been dismissive of the charges levelled against him in the complaint, terming it a motivated conspiracy and said that the legal process would eventually reveal the truth.
The seer has also questioned the credibility of the complainant, claiming that the person making allegations had a criminal background.
“The individual who has levelled accusations against me is himself a history-sheeter. His record proves this,” he said, hours after the police were directed to register a complaint against him.
Swami Avimukteshwarananda, the ‘Shankaracharya’ of Jyotirmath (Uttarakhand), recently hit the headlines over a confrontation with the organisers of Magh Mela in Prayagraj, after he was denied permission to take a holy bath during Mauni Amavasya. The seer had accused the state administration of preventing him from taking a dip on the auspicious occasion.
(IANS)
