UP: Man who filed POCSO complaint against religious leader Avimukteshwaranand attacked

A man who had filed a complaint against religious leader Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was attacked by an unidentified person with a razor on a train in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Sunday, PTI quoted the police as saying.

Saraswati, the head of the Jyotirmath monastery, is accused of having sexually abused two minor boys at a camp in Prayagraj over the past year. A first information report was filed against him and his disciple Mukundanand on February 21, following a court order.

The complainant, Ashutosh Brahmachari, had approached a special POCSO court claiming that the police failed to act on written complaints in the matter. The court had then ordered the registration of the case.

Brahmachari claimed on Sunday that he was attacked when he was travelling to Prayagraj on the Rewa Express, PTI quoted an unidentified Government Railway Police officer as saying.

The officer said that when the train was approaching Sirathu station, Brahmachari went to the toilet, where an unidentified person allegedly attacked him with a razor.

He sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital in Prayagraj for a medical examination. Closed-circuit television camera footage from the spot is being examined to identify the attacker.

Saraswati, however, questioned the claim about Brahmachari being attacked and said that it appeared to be fabricated, PTI reported. He called on the railway authorities to carry out an inquiry, so that the truth would come out.

Controversies around the religious leader

On February 28, the Allahabad High Court granted interim protection from arrest to Saraswati in the POCSO case against him.

The religious leader maintained that the allegations against him were false and politically motivated.

The case against Saraswati had come amid recent tensions between the religious leader and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh.

In January, Saraswati held an 11-day sit-in protest in Prayagraj after the local administration allegedly prevented him from taking a dip in the Triveni Sangam on the holy day of Mauni Amavasya on January 18.

The religious leader had also given a 40-day “ultimatum” to Chief Minister Adityanath to “declare gau mata [mother cow]” as “rajya mata” and take steps to prevent the export of cow meat.

Saraswati was also among the three other shankaracharyas, or pontiffs of major Hindu shrines, who said that they would not attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January 2024.