'Come to my room, will take you abroad': Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati's messages to young women surface

Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati

Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati's messages that he sent to young women who had been entrusted to his care have surfaced. In the messages, he allegedly directed women to come to his room and told them that he would take them on a trip abroad. He even assured them that they would not have to pay for anything.

According to an NDTV report, WhatsApp messages have been found on the mobile phones of 50 women from the Sri Sharda Institute of Indian Management and have revealed details of abuse that several women suffered at the hands of the Swami for the last 16 years.

Allegedly, several women received lewd text messages and had to suffer forced physical contact.

According to media reports, the Swami lured a woman by promising her wealth and in another case he threatened the victim with poor marks. "If you don't obey me, I will fail you..." he said, in one of his messages.

Police have revealed that, according to the probe in the case, 'Swami Chaitanyananda', who was born Parthasarathy in Odisha, has been preying on women for at least 16 years and had also escaped two molestation cases that were earlier filed in 2009 and 2016.

NDTV reported that according to the police officials, the "godman" used to reach out to his victims by way of WhatsApp, text messages or phone calls and did not threaten them for the first few messages. He resorted to blackmail if he did not get the desired response from the victims.

Reports said that the Swami targeted women who were from the Economically Weaker Sections and it has been said that he was sure that neither the women nor their families would speak up. Three female wardens assisted him in his plans, the reports have said, adding that the statements of the wardens have been recorded.