Swami Avimukteshwaranand files counter-case against accuser under POCSO Act

Amidst sexual abuse allegations, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati files a counter-case under the POCSO Act against his accuser, escalating the legal battle and raising questions about the veracity of the claims.

IMAGE: File image of Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati. Photograph: ANI Photo

Booked for sexually abusing two persons, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said on Thursday that he has filed a case against the accuser, Ashutosh Brahmachari, under the POCSO Act, claiming the law allows legal action against those who file false cases.

The spiritual leader has already moved the Allahabad high court seeking anticipatory bail in the case registered against him. The plea will be heard on Friday.

The FIR against Avimukteshwaranand and his disciple Mukundanand Brahmachari was lodged at the Jhunsi police station over allegations of sexual abuse of two persons, including a minor, over the past year.

The complainants include Ashutosh Brahmachari Maharaj and two other persons -- one of them a minor -- who alleged sexual abuse by the accused at a gurukul and during religious congregations, including the recently concluded Magh Mela in Prayagraj.

ACP (Jhunsi) Vimal Kishore Mishra told PTI that medical examinations of the alleged victims have been conducted and the reports have been handed over to the investigating officer in a sealed envelope. He, whoever, declined to comment on the contents of the medical reports.

According to officials, the FIR has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of the BNS. Two to three unidentified persons have also been named in the complaint, besides Avimukteshwaranand and Mukundanand Brahmachari.

Ashutosh Brahmachari had on Wednesday presented the alleged victims before the media, and one of them accused the seer and his disciple Mukundanand Brahmachari of sexual exploitation and harassment.

Meanwhile, Avimukteshwaranand told reporters in Varanasi that he has filed a case against Ashutosh Brahmachari under the POCSO Act and pointed out that a person can initiate proceedings if a false complaint is lodged against him under Section 22 of the POCSO Act.

Referring to allegations linked to the Magh Mela period, the seer claimed all his movements were captured in CCTV footage and media cameras throughout. He also claimed that the boys concerned never studied in his gurukul and had never taken admission there.

The seer denied having any contact with the two persons who alleged that they had been sexually abused. Avimukteshwaranand displayed a purported WhatsApp group on his phone that he alleged had been created by Ashutosh Pandey alias Ashutosh Bramachari, and claimed that it was on his information that the case was lodged against him.

He further claimed that the two victims named in the FIR had been living with Pandey for a long time.

"If anything wrong has happened with those children, it must have been done by those who were with them. We had no contact with them. If someone wants to fabricate a story, they can concoct anything," the seer said.

Responding to questions about alleged opulent facilities such as a glass palace or a swimming pool at the math, Avimukteshwaranand said the premises house around 150 to 200 people. He denied the existence of any secret location, glass palace or swimming pool on the premises.

He added that when his guru resided at the math, certain arrangements were made on medical advice for exercise purposes, but those facilities are no longer in use.