In the serene confines of South Delhi’s Shri Sharada Institute of Indian Management (ShriSIIM), Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati presented himself as a revered spiritual guide and academic leader. Yet, according to police investigations and accounts from survivors, this self-proclaimed godman orchestrated a regime of surveillance, intimidation, and exploitation targeting female students. Authorities have charged him with sexually harassing at least 17 women, unveiling a pattern of abuse that blended coercion with institutional power.
Known also as Dr. Parthasarthy, the accused holds an MBA and PhD from U.S. universities and authored 28 books, one with a foreword by Steve Jobs. The case erupted after an email from an Indian Air Force group captain, a former student, alerted authorities to the misconduct. What followed was a cascade of testimonies revealing hidden cameras, obscene interrogations, and ritualized humiliations. Delhi Police’s FIR details a calculated system where academic success hinged on compliance, and resistance invited ruin.
Here are 10 disturbing insights emerging from the probe:
- Surveillance via concealed cameras: Under the guise of enhancing security, Chaitanyananda installed CCTV devices in the women’s hostel, positioning them near bathrooms and bedrooms. He allegedly viewed the feeds on his mobile device and interrogated students about their private routines, including bathing habits.
- Intrusive personal queries: Survivors reported relentless probing into their intimate lives, with questions like whether they engaged in sexual activity with partners and used protection. One woman recounted being denied her degree and coerced to pay ₹15,000 for her original certificates after such grilling.
- Lewd communications: Late-night WhatsApp messages from the swami included affectionate overtures such as “Baby, I love you” and “I adore you,” blurring professional boundaries and instilling unease among recipients.
- Shaming in group settings: Female students faced public derision for personal choices. One from Haryana was labeled “characterless” for dating, while another witnessed a peer emerge from Chaitanyananda’s office in distress, her clothing disheveled and torn.
- Festival-enforced rituals: During Holi celebrations, women were reportedly compelled to queue up, prostrate before the swami, and submit to him applying colored powder to their hairlines and faces first— a faculty-mandated protocol that isolated him as the primary applicator.
- After-hours calls to seclusion: Numerous complainants described midnight summons to Chaitanyananda’s private residence, where encounters escalated into harassment. Refusals triggered academic penalties, including falsified attendance records.
- Coerced excursions: Victims alleged pressure to join him on out-of-town trips, both within India and abroad. One student fended off repeated entreaties to accompany him to Mathura, fearing escalation.
- Withholding credentials for leverage: Degrees were dangled as bargaining chips; non-compliant students endured grade deductions or document seizures, forcing payments for retrieval and prompting several dropouts amid the fear.
- Enablers in the inner circle: Close aides and faculty members facilitated the abuses, enforcing compliance and silencing dissent, thereby extending the swami’s control beyond his direct actions.
- Broader financial manipulations: Beyond harassment, the institute faced accusations of monetary extortion, with fees and refunds weaponized to punish resistors, compounding the emotional toll on affected women.
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