Indian Spiritual Leader Sexually Exploits Female Devotee at Ashram Under Pretext of Resolving Her Problems

A case has been filed against Mr. Indra Dev Maharaj, a self declared spiritual leader of Vrindavan. A woman devotee from Maharashtra accuses him of sexually abusing her at an ashram in Uttar Pradesh. The woman says he played with her faith and blackmailed and abused her for days on end.

According to the woman, she became drawn to Mr. Indra Dev in 2023 after seeing his religious talks on social media. Later she joined a satsang event at Santacruz in Mumbai and took initiation from him. She told him about her personal and family problems. Mr. Indra Dev won her trust by promising to solve them.

After that, the woman went to the spiritual leader’s Sevadham ashram in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. She says that during her stay at the ashram in 2023, Mr. Indra Dev called her to his room one night. He shut the door and raped her by force. She says he even told her to say she was going to fetch medicine if anyone asked about it.

Later, the woman was forced to take off her clothes on a video call, and an indecent video was recorded. She says she was blackmailed for days with threats to spread the obscene video on the internet and to shame her in public. According to the woman, the spiritual leader used to tell her, “I am God, and you must obey me.”

She went to the local authorities in Mathura for many months but got no response. In the end, she turned to Ms. Trupti Desai, a women’s rights activist and head of Bhumata Brigade. The shocking allegation was made public at a press conference in Pune. Several other women besides the complainant also said they had faced similar abuse.

A Zero FIR was filed at Kasimira police station in Maharashtra. It was then sent straight to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, where the main crime took place. The case has been registered under Sections 69 (sexual relations by deceitful means), 75 (sexual harassment), 79 (word or gesture meant to insult the modesty of a woman) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Ms. Trupti Desai strongly condemned the incident. She demanded the immediate arrest of the spiritual leader. She also asked for the statements of the other women victims to be recorded and for a fair investigation. So far, neither the accused Mr. Indra Dev Maharaj nor his ashram has given any public statement or response to the allegation.