Three girls rescued from Indore ashram of 'godman' Dixit

Another 'ashram' of molestation-accused 'godman' Baba Virendra Dev Dixit has been found in Indore of Madhya Pradesh and three girls rescued from there, said police on Tuesday. Two of the rescued are minors.

The minor girls have been handed over to Childline India Foundation -- a non-government organisation for children in distress -- while the elder one has been sent to the local unit of Nari Niketan. The registers recovered from this ashram mention names of several other women, including some old women.

"We came to know of a spiritual centre of the 'godman' in Subhash Nagar area of the city. We raided the centre on Monday night and rescued three girls, out of which two are from Bihar and one from West Bengal," Indore Deputy Inspector General of Police Harinarayan Chari Mishra told IANS.

The police officer said: "The two girls have been sent to Childline and the third to Nari Niketan, and action is being initiated against the house owner for not informing the police about the irregularities taking place there."

Last week, the Delhi Commission for Women had rescued more than 45 minor girls from two different ashrams run by Dixit where girls and women were allegedly being kept in illegal confinement in the name of religious preaching.

The Delhi High Court has ordered a CBI investigation into the matter and slammed the Delhi Police for not taking any action on various FIRs of girls and women allegedly lured to an ashram in Rohini area on the pretext of spiritual guidance and raped there.

Dixit is on the run ever since the raids on his national capital-based ashrams last week.

--IANS

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