Illegal confinement of girls:HC seeks CBI's reply on parents plea

The Delhi High Court today sought response of the Central Bureau of Investigation on a plea by parents of 48 girls who were sent to a children's home from an institution that is under investigation for alleged illegal confinement of young women.
Justice S P Garg directed the CBI to file a status report about the number of girls at the Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya in Rohini area here, their ages and whether they were willing to return to their parents.
The court asked the agency to give the report on or before March 5.
It sought the reply of the authorities concerned on the plea which contended that the girls were illegally detained despite being adults and were being subjected to mental torture.

The plea said the girls, who were lodged at the Minda Bal Gram in Alipur, were kept in painful conditions and were suffering from tremendous mental agony.
It also claimed that the process of their age verification was being delayed for unknown reasons.

The petition also alleged that they were not allowed to meet their parents and were being threatened.
"It is submitted that all the 48 girls are languishing in the protection home for the past many days gratuitously and Child Welfare Committee VI is acting unlawfully and arbitrarily. This is serious violation of fundamental right of religious freedom and right to life and personal liberty of these 48 adult spinsters," the plea has said.

On December 21 last year, 48 girls were rescued from the ashram run by self-styled godman Virendra Dev Dixit after finding that all of them were minors.
The raids were carried out in pursuance of the orders of the Delhi High Court after it was informed that several girls were illegally confined in the ashram for many years and were being sexually exploited by Dixit.