Seer, 64, arrested for raping 15-year-old girl at Andhra Pradesh ashram

VISAKHAPATNAM: A 64-year-old seer was arrested on the charges of raping and torturing a 15-year-old girl (an orphan) at an ashram in Visakhapatnam for several months, police said on Monday.
The heinous crime came to light when the victim escaped from the ashram, reached Vijayawada by train route, and lodged a complaint against the seer with Disha police.
In a swift action to the complaint, the Vizag city police arrested the seer Swami Poornananda Saraswati alias Swami Premananda, the administrator of the Gnanananda Ashram which houses an orphanage and old age home located at Venkojipalem in Vizag city.
It is not the first time that the seer was arrested. Poornananda Saraswati was arrested by Vizag city police in October 2012 for allegedly raping a 13-year-old-girl in the Ashram.
It is not yet clear how the Ashram had children when the earlier rape case against the seer was under trial, and if he had a license to keep children in the Ashram.
The victim girl’s parents died when she was young, and her maternal grandmother left her at the Ashram in Vizag city a few years ago. The girl went missing from the Ashram on June 13. A missing case of the girl was registered in Vizag on June 15.
Speaking to TOI, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Disha Police Statin), Vizag, Ch Vivekananda said that the girl was held hostage in the Ashram by the swami for more than a year and he repeatedly tortured and raped her over a year.
Unable to bear the torture, the girl with the help of a maid, escaped from the ashram on June 13 and boarded Tirumala Express with the help of a co-passenger.
A member of the Child Welfare Committee and the girl lodged a complaint with Disha police in Vijayawada. The case was transferred to Vizag and the accused was taken into custody.
We have registered a case against the seer under Section 376 of IPC (punishment for rape) and relevant sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting the minor girl, Vivekananda added.
There were twelve orphans housed in the ashram, including four girls. We will interact with the inmates of the Ashram in connection with the case, the police added.
The victim girl recounted her harrowing ordeal to the police, revealing that she had been confined and physically assaulted within the premises of the Ashram. Disturbingly, she also disclosed incidents of rape committed by the self-proclaimed godman.
Furthermore, she endured days without proper sustenance, while the seer threatened her with severe consequences.
Currently, the victim girl is undergoing medical examinations at a government hospital in Vijayawada.
On the other hand, the ashram's members assert that certain individuals and organisations are attempting to unlawfully seize the ashram's valuable land. They claim that the allegations against the seer are merely a part of a larger conspiracy aimed at tarnishing the reputation of both the ashram and its revered leader.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)