A 60-year-old 'seer' was arrested on Tuesday on accusations of sexually assaulting a minor girl over a duration of several months at the ashram he operates in Visakhapatnam.
The individual in question, named Paramananda, has inherited control of the Ramananda Jnanananda ashram located in Venkoji Nagar, M V P Colony. The ashram, established in 1955, has been under Paramananda's supervision.
Seer assaulted girls sexually on pretext of getting legs pressed
"The seer used to call two children (girls) who are around 14 years old after 9 pm on the pretext of getting his legs pressed but he would physically abuse them," Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Trivikram Varma told PTI on Tuesday, confirming molestation charges.
A few days prior, the girl managed to flee from the ashram and boarded the Tirumala Express train to Vijayawada. There, she received assistance from some individuals who helped her contact a child protection official, Varma stated.
The girl was then accompanied to a women's protection police station called Disha in Vijayawada. She filed a complaint, leading to the subsequent arrest of Paramananda in the port city.
Paramananda himself filed missing complaint of the girl
Interestingly, Paramananda himself had filed a missing complaint on June 15 at the M V P Colony police station in order to avoid arousing suspicion.
In the meantime, the police are engaging with other children from the ashram to gather information about the arrested suspect's background, aiming to determine if similar incidents had occurred previously.
In the event of such a situation, the commissioner emphasised that all those cases would be consolidated into a single case for further action.
The police filed a case under Sections 505 and 506 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Victim joined ashram after losing her parents
The ashram comprises 12 children and six staff members. Among the 12 children, eight are boys and four are girls. Eleven out of the 12 children come from the Araku tribal area, while the girl who lodged the complaint hails from the Gandepally area in Rajamahendravaram.
According to Varma, the victim first joined the Gandepally Sadhu Matham in Rajamahendravaram in 2016 after losing her parents. She was subsequently transferred to Paramananda's ashram.
