The 15-year-old girl, an orphan, told the police she was chained and starved for many days. She ran away on 13 June.
Ramananda Gnanananda ashram seer Poornanda Swamy being taken into custody on 19 June. (Supplied)
The Visakhapatnam police on Monday, 19 June, took into custody a 64-year-old seer accused of repeatedly sexually abusing and raping a 15-year-old girl.
The police said that the victim, an orphan, managed to flee the Ramananda Gnanananda ashram at Venkoji Nagar in the MVP Colony area of the city on 13 June.
Meanwhile, the seer, identified as Swami Poornananda, is also facing trial in a 2012 rape case based on a complaint by another minor girl.
The police said that 12 children — four girls and eight boys — live in the ashram in Andhra Pradesh, along with six staff members.
While the victim is a native of the Gandepalli area in Rajahmundry, the rest of the children come from the Araku tribal area.
The victim first lived at the Gandepalli Sadhu Matham in Rajahmundry in 2016 after she lost her parents.
She was later shifted to Poornananda’s ashram, which was reportedly set up in 1955.
Poornananda is the director as he inherited the ashram from his family.
“She is older than the other girls. She told us that he used to call her and other girls to his room after 9-10 pm. He used to ask them to press his legs but under that pretext, he sexually abused them,” Disha Police ACP Ch Vivekananda told South First.
The Disha Police was set up in 2020 by the Andhra Pradesh government to ensure speedy investigation and trial in cases related to sexual offences against women.
The girl reportedly said she was tied up with a chain and had to spend many days without food.
She managed to flee the ashram on 13 June and initially lodged a zero FIR in Vijayawada, which was later re-registered by the Visakhapatnam police.
“After she left, she boarded the Tirumala Express, where she met a woman from the Rajahmundry district and narrated her ordeal to her. The woman, with the help of the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), produced the girl in front of the Child Welfare Committee,” ACP Vivekananda said.
Incidentally, Poornananda himself lodged a missing-person complaint on 15 June at the MVP Colony Police Station to avoid suspicion.
Visakhapatnam’s Disha Police registered a case under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 505 and 506 of the POCSO Act against the seer.
The girl is currently undergoing medical examination in Vijayawada.
Swami Poornananda is highly educated, with a double master’s degree, a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree, and law degrees. However, he allegedly has a criminal past not limited to abuse.
“There are many cases registered against him, including land dispute cases. A total of 9.5 acres of land of the ashram is also under dispute,” the police said.
Proclaiming his innocence, Poornananda reportedly told the police that the cases against him were motivated by those trying to grab the ashram land.
“We are investigating the abuse case from multiple angles to establish facts. We are talking to the other children in the ashram to find out whether such incidents took place earlier too,” ACP Vivekananda said.
Visakhapatnam Commissioner Trivikram Varma reportedly noted that all these cases would be clubbed together into one case for further action.
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