Special POCSO court orders to book ashram owner, disciple under JJ Act, SC/ST Act

A special POCSO court here has directed to book an ashram owner and his disciple under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly sexually harassing children.

A special POCSO court here has directed to book an ashram owner and his disciple under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly sexually harassing children. The owner of the ashram in Shukertal and his disciple were arrested on July 9 for sexually harassing children and forcing them and the others to work as laborers, police said. Judge of the special court Sanjive Kumar on Monday allowed the police to add relevant sections under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) Act in the FIR against the accused. Swami Bhakti Bhushan Govind Maharaj and his disciple Krishan Mohan Das were arrested when they were trying to escape from the ashram, police said. According to Additional District Magistrate Amit Kumar, a case was registered against the ashram owner and others under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 377 (unnatural offenses), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and sections 5/6 of the POCSO Act. The investigation officer DySP Rajesh Kumar Dwivedi had informed the court that the accused were also found guilty under the Juvenile Justice Act and the SC/ST Act. Bhushan, who established the ashram in 2008, has denied the charges against him, claiming he was falsely implicated in the case.