15 women rescued from godman

Kolkata: In a major crackdown the police on Saturday busted the den of a self-proclaimed godman, who allegedly used to rape women after luring them to a building under the cover of a religious institute over the past two decades in Salt Lake. 15 women of different age groups were rescued while one of the two women, entrusted for running the institution, was arrested by the police.

The institute-- Adhyatmik Ishwarya Vishwavidyalaya at CL-249 in Sector-II has been sealed by the police. Its owner, Baba Birendra Dev Dixit, is absconding. The building is however owned by Rabindra Nath Das who was an aide of the godman before snapping ties with him after coming to know his illegal activities there.

The male cops of the Bidhannagar East police station, accompanied by their female colleagues, raided the hide-out after getting a search warrant issued by the additional chief judicial magistrate of the Bidhannagar Court. The raid was videographed.

Deputy commissioner of police (detective department) of the Bidhannagar City Police K Sabari Rajkumar said, "15 women aged between 25 to 60 years were rescued. Two male inmates and a woman: Chandra Mata of the institute were also detained for questioning. Chandra Mata was arrested later.” Chandra Mata will be produced at the Bidhannagar Court on Sunday.

 The other woman who assisted her in running the institute is Girija Mata. On February 9 the police initiated a case on several charges including rape of the Indian Penal Code after getting a complaint from a victim from East Midnapore. The woman alleged that in 1984 an institution: Prajapita Brahmakumari Ishwarya Adhyatmik Vishwav-idyalaya organized a show at Contai and it later opened a branch there.

Mr Rajkumar elaborated, “They started to induce local poor ladies to join their institute to continue spiritual studies at free of cost. Being convinced, the victim joined there. Later she joined Adhyatmik Ishiwarya Vishwavidyalaya in Salt Lake in 1992-93. The founder of the institute Baba Birendra Dev Dixit co-habited with her forcefully. Many poor ladies became victims of such merciless torture in the same manner at the same institute at same place under cover of imparting spiritual education."

The police received another complaint on Friday when a woman from Duttabad in Salt Lake alleged that in the middle of 2013 her sister went missing while visiting the institute at CL-249. When she inquired at the institute she was told that her sister was sent to another state for religious campaign. Meanwhile, she learnt that her sister fell prey to the godman.

The police found that several ladies were sent to other such locations to get sexually exploited by Dixit and others attached to his institute. The second case was initiated by the police on rape and other charges also.