A joint raid was conducted by the Haryana State Women Commission (HSWC) and the Haryana Police at a spiritual centre run by controversial godman Virender Dev Dixit in Old Housing Board colony in Sonipat on Sunday.
‘Women held captive’
“We carried out a raid at the spiritual centre being run from a rented house in Old Housing Board colony around 3 p.m. following a tip-off. We had information that some women were kept captive at the house and not allowed to venture outside,” said HSWC chairperson Partibha Suman. She said that though nothing incriminating was found during the raid, the conduct of the inmates seemed “suspicious”.
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“The house was covered with curtains and nothing was visible from outside. The neighbours told us that the women remained inside the house and never stepped out. We have directed the local police to deploy policemen in plain clothes near the centre and submit a report to the commission in three-four days,” said Ms. Suman.
Several women have been rescued during raids at similar centres in Rohini and Dwarka during the past week.
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PIL by NGO
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The issue had surfaced after a PIL filed by the Foundation for Social Empowerment, an NGO, before the Delhi High Court submitted that several minors and women were allegedly being illegally confined at the ashram.
Warning
On the details of the operation, Ms. Suman said that eight women were found inside the spiritual centre, but they were not very forthcoming with the details of the ashram’s activities. “Initially, they refused to allow us inside, but relented after a warning from the raiding team to break open the door. The women were between 30-55 years of age. They told us they had come to centre in pursuit of spirituality and belonged to different parts of the country like West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand,” said Ms. Suman.
The chairperson said the inmates claimed that there were similar spiritual centres across the country, including this one at Sonipat in Haryana.