6-year-old boy repeatedly sodomised by ‘godmen’ at central Delhi ashram

A six-year-old boy was reportedly sodomised multiple times over the past few months and threatened allegedly by three self-styled godmen at a yoga ashram located near Raj Ghat in central Delhi, police said on Tuesday.

Police said the three were caretakers of the ashram and had been staying there since the past few years.

Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (central), said that one of them, identified as Amarjeet Pandey, has been arrested while the other two, Chandan Pandey and Mangal Pandey, have fled. “A case was registered against them based on the boy’s statement and his medical examination report,” said Randhawa.

The boy in his statement said he was sexually assaulted allegedly by the three at various occasions. He never told anybody about the sexual assault, as the three had allegedly threatened to kill him and the head priest of the ashram.

The boy is an orphan and he was adopted by the head priest of the ashram some years ago. The head priest had been taking care of his education, food and lodging. The police have roped in Shakti Vahini, a NGO, to counsel the boy and help him overcome the mental and physical trauma.

A senior police officer said that the matter came to light on Sunday night when Ram Manohar Sharma, one of the disciples of the head priest, approached the IP Estate police station and lodged a sexual assault complaint against three caretakers on behalf of the boy and the head priest.

Sharma in his complaint told police that he had been learning yoga under the guidance of the head priest at the ashram for the past three years. The six-year-old boy and three caretakers Amarjeet, Mangal and Chandan were also living with them at the ashram.

On Saturday around 4 pm, Sharma found the boy crying in a room at the ashram. When Sharma asked why he was crying, the boy left the room. Sharma got suspicious and when he insisted on knowing the reason, the boy broke down and told him that he was sodomised allegedly by the three caretakers.

The boy told Sharma that in the afternoon he was sitting in the cowshed (gaushala) when Armajeet lured him to a room on the promise of giving him chocolates. Chandan was already present in the room. Amarjeet locked the boy in the room with Chandan and left.

“Chandan first showed him some obscene photographs and then asked him to help him imitate similar acts on him. He forcibly undressed the boy and sodomised him,” said the senior police officer. The boy told Sharma that Chandan and the other two had subjected him to cruelty several times in the past.

Sharma informed the head priest about the matter over phone as he was out of the ashram. The next day, the head priest called a local NGO.

Police said Amarjeet and Chandan were assaulted allegedly by four members of the NGO, including two women, the head priest and Sharma. While Chandan fled, Amarjeet called the police control room and informed that he was physically assaulted. A separate case against the NGO members and others were registered on Amarjeet’s complaint.