Three senior women officials arrested for aiding alleged harassment by Delhi godman

Three senior women officials from a private institute in Delhi — including an associate dean and two faculty members — have been arrested for allegedly abetting the harassment of female students by self-styled godman Chaitanyanand Saraswati, police confirmed on Thursday.

The officials, identified as Associate Dean Shweta Sharma, Executive Director Bhawna Kapil, and Senior Faculty Member Kajal, have been charged with abetment, issuing threats, and tampering with evidence.

According to investigators, the trio admitted to following the instructions of the 62-year-old Saraswati and pressuring students under the guise of enforcing discipline and punctuality. They also allegedly threatened the victims and compelled them to delete inappropriate messages sent by Saraswati from their mobile phones.

A police team visited a guesthouse in Almora where Saraswati had reportedly stayed with several female students.

Investigators confirmed key details related to the case, including digital evidence from a group chat on a messaging platform where Saraswati allegedly made inappropriate comments about photos of the students.

Saraswati, who was arrested last Sunday in Agra after evading capture, had earlier been brought to the Delhi institute for site verification. He is accused of sexually harassing at least 17 female students on the premises.

During a search of his residence on Wednesday, police recovered pornographic material, a sex toy, and multiple CDs. Officers also found explicit chat records on his phone, where he addressed women using terms such as 'baby doll' and allegedly attempted to offer them to clients overseas.

In addition to these findings, authorities seized doctored photographs showing Saraswati posing with global leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former US President Barack Obama, and a British political figure — all believed to be used as part of his deception.

Saraswati is accused of luring women by promising jobs as flight attendants or positions at his institute, using these opportunities as pretexts to initiate personal and exploitative conversations. His office was reportedly styled like a luxury suite to impress visitors, and he is known to have gifted jewellery and other expensive items, requesting in return photos and videos of the women practising yoga.

A senior officer involved in the probe remarked, “Saraswati displays no sign of guilt or remorse”.