Chennai: The internationally famed Aurobindo Ashram located in Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) woke up on Thursday to the news of the dramatic suicide bid by a controversial family comprising an aged couple and five adult sisters in which three of them died, following their legal eviction from an Ashram building a day earlier.
The five sisters, known as the ”Prasad sisters”, who were waging a legal battle against the Ashram authorities since 2001, were ordered to be evicted from an Ashram owned building by the Supreme Court last week on a contempt petition. The sisters had vainly resisted being evicted on Thursday and one of them had climbed atop a water tank threatening to jump off but was safely brought down by an Inspector posing as a journalist.
On Thursday morning, the five sisters and their parents went to the sea front and walked into the Bay of Bengal. While local fishermen managed to save the father and three sisters, the others drowned.
News of the death of the two sisters and their mother triggered violence with cadres of a rationalist outfit targeting the Ashram. Heavy police security has been posted in and around the Ashram and a Puducherry bandh call has been given for Saturday.
The genesis of the tragic death goes back to 2001 when the Prasad sisters — Jayashreee Prasad (54), Arunashri Prasad (50), Rajyashree Prasad (45), Nivedita Prasad (42) and Hemalata Prasad (40) — raised charges of corruption against the administrators of the famed Ashram founded by the nationalist-saint Aurobindo Ghose in 1926. The Ashram responded by expelling the sisters and their parents, who were long time inmates.
Following this in 2002 the sisters raised allegations of sexual abuse in the Ashram, which had attracted attention from global followers of Aurobindo. A protracted legal battle followed and at one point a retired judge appointed by the Madras High Court to inquire into the Ashram affairs indicted the sisters in his report. He had said, “Allegations against Hemalata is quite serious and if such misconduct is ignored and no action taken it would set a bad precedent and jeopardise the noble principles on which the ashram is established.”
The issue went up to the Supreme Court which in July ordered the eviction of the sisters from the Ashram building. The sisters had agreed to move out but reneged on the assurance prompting the Ashram authorities to file a contempt petition and last week the Apex Court directed that the sisters be removed by the police.
A day after they were evicted the family dramatically decided to end their lives. While Arunashree, Rajyashree and their 65-year-old mother Shanthi Devi died, Gadhadhar Prasad (70) and his other three daughters were rescued by fishermen.
Incidentally, from 2001 onwards Hemalata has been posting regular updates on the legal battle in her blog. Even a few days ago she had questioned the Supreme Court verdict. In fact, on December 15, the sisters had sent a letter to the Ashram trustees warning that they would end their lives if they were evicted.
