The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday filed three first information reports against priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati for allegedly making insulting remarks about women, The Indian Express reported.
In a video widely shared on Twitter last week, the priest seems to be heard saying that women politicians were either mistresses of male leaders or members of families of influential politicians.
Scroll.in has not independently verified the authenticity of the clip.
The police filed the FIRs against the priest on the basis of complaints by the National Commission for Women, according to The Indian Express.
“The separate incidents were brought to our notice through social media in which remarks against women were made,” said Iraj Raj, the superintendent of police of Rural Ghaziabad.
After a controversy erupted over the priest’s remarks, BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who had in April supported a campaign to raise funds for the Dasna Devi temple, demanded Saraswati’s arrest. Saraswati is the head priest of the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad.
Another BJP leader, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, tweeted on August 28: “I request Rekha Sharma [the chairperson of the National Commission for Women] and UP Police to take action against this Fraud Narshianand.”
Saraswati has also been in the news for his inflammatory comments against Muslims. Scroll.in had travelled to western Uttar Pradesh in August to find out how Bharatiya Janata Party workers perceived Saraswati.
Young BJP workers had spoken approvingly of Saraswati, but middle-aged district chiefs seemed wary of him.
“We cannot support him openly because of [how it could impact] our international image,” Ravinder Sharma, the BJP’s district coordinator in Jewar, had told Scroll.in. “They [Centre] want to show Muslims that they do not want to oppress them.”
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