The Tamil Nadu police submitted a status report to the Supreme Court on Friday, October 18, detailing cases registered against Jaggi Vasudev’s Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation over the past 15 years. The report includes a POCSO case in which 9 schoolgirls are alleged victims, as well as cases of missing persons, a sexual assault case transferred from New Delhi, suspicious suicides, and reports from state government bodies like the Social Welfare Department.
The report was submitted by K Karthikeyan, the Superintendent of Police (SP) for Coimbatore, in relation to a case filed by a couple alleging that their daughters were being kept captive at the foundation’s ashram. Though the Supreme Court rejected the parent’s petition saying that their daughters were adults who were free to make their own decisions, the report filed by the Coimbatore police has several details about Isha.
The report says that out of six missing persons cases filed at the Alandurai police station under whose jurisdiction the foundation falls, five cases have been closed as “further action was dropped”. One case is still under investigation as the person has not been traced.
Further, seven cases had been registered at the same police station under CrPC section 174 (suspicious death), out of which two cases are under investigation for want of forensic reports.
The SP’s report also mentions a crematorium named Kalabairavar Thagana Mandapam that had been constructed on the Foundation’s premises. The crematorium was opposed at the Madras High Court by a person identified as SN Subramanian who owns the adjacent land and had pleaded for its removal. The foundation had submitted that the crematorium was not functional at present and the case is still pending before the court.
The report also highlights an ongoing POCSO case against a Dr Sarvanamoorthy who was working for Isha Outreach and used to conduct medical check-ups at the Mobile Health Centre. He was accused by the principal of a government school in Semmedu of sexually assaulting 9 girl students last month. As the SP’s report submitted to the SC mentions, the complaint was submitted to the All Women’s Police Station (AWPS) in Perur. The SP further mentions that the doctor had been arrested and that the case is still under investigation.
The report also elaborates on a zero FIR filed in 2021 at the Saket police station in New Delhi by a woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by another participant at the foundation’s premises while she was sleeping. This case was transferred to the Perur AWPS. The SP says that the woman’s statement had been recorded by an investigation officer who travelled to Delhi for this purpose. The case was dropped in 2022 after the woman withdrew her complaint. However, the report points out that the woman’s statement had not been recorded as per CrPC section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) and that the accused, a man identified as Naveen, had not been arrested and interrogated. “Appropriate action will be sought from the court for further investigation,” the report adds.
Regarding the hugely controversial habeas corpus petition filed before the Madras High Court by a Dr Kamaraj alleging that his daughters Geetha (42) and Latha (39), who now go by the aliases Maa Mathi and Maa Maayu respectively, were being held hostage at the foundation, the report says that two women had given written statements that they were staying there of their own volition and had chosen monkhood.
It was while hearing this case that the Madras High Court had directed the state government and police on September 30 to compile a list of all the cases against Isha Foundation. At the time, the HC had asked: “We want to know why a person who had given his daughter in marriage and made her settle well in life is encouraging the daughters of others to tonsure their heads and live the life of a hermitess (sic).”
It may be recalled that in June this year, an FIR was filed against the foundation for allegedly assaulting members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK). The alleged attack took place near Ikkarai Boluvampatti village, according to the TPDK’s complaint while the members were visiting the crematorium that Isha was allegedly illegally constructing. The Periyarist organisation had also pointed out in the complaint that the crematorium stands on a 44.3 acre plot of land that is under dispute between the foundation and the Vellingiri Hill Tribal Protection Society, an Adivasi rights organisation. These allegations of grabbing Adivasi land are currently being investigated under the Tamil Nadu Property Prevention of Damage and Loss (TNPPDL) Act, the SP’s report further mentions.
What police say they found during October 1 search
In the report, the SP says that on October 1 he had been accompanied by the Additional Superintendent of Police (ADSP) for Crimes against Women and Children Krishnamurthy and the Perur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sivakumar, among others. Apart from them, 120 police personnel were deployed for conducting the search and questioning on the foundation’s premises.
Officers from the social welfare, child protection, food safety, and health departments were also present along with two psychiatrists from the Pollachi Government Hospital. All of them conducted their own enquiries and handed their own reports to the police, which have also been submitted to the Supreme Court.
According to their findings, 217 monks, 2,455 volunteers, 891 paid staff, 1,475 paid workers, 342 Isha Home School students, 175 Isha Samskriti students, 704 visitors/volunteers from overseas, and 912 guests were staying on the premises.
A total of 558 persons were enquired at random. This group comprised 33 monks, 179 volunteers, 152 staff members, 44 persons residing in the family quarters, 17 school students, 42 visitors, 80 workers, and one foreigner. They were asked about the food, safety, and any other problems they may have faced at the ashram.
Additionally, the social welfare, food safety, and child protection officers spoke to 45 students from Isha Home School and Samskriti who were chosen at random. These officers opined that there was a need for periodic awareness programmes about the child helpline, children’s rights, and about the POCSO Act, the SP’s report says. It was also discovered that the foundation does not have a functional Internal Committee (IC) as mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act.
The two psychiatrists had reported instances of mood swings among the residents, but added that they could not arrive at further conclusions without more time to conduct tests.
Lastly, the health department officer who inspected the Isha Clinic on October 2 submitted that he found expired endotracheal tube (ET) tubes, venflon, Urobag, and intravenal (IV) sets in the emergency room. Further, the licence for the X-ray machine—the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) licence—that had been applied for in 2022 is yet to be obtained. The officer also found that X-rays were taken by a non-qualified person and one Dr Sushanth who is registered in Telangana and not Tamil Nadu.
Also read: SC dismisses plea against Isha Foundation, says women living in ashram of their own free will