A bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Shivagnanam sought to know why Jaggi Vasudev is encouraging women to be hermitesses even as he marries off his daughter.
Published Oct 01, 2024 | 11:50 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 01, 2024 | 12:26 PM
Jaggi Vasudev. (X)
A search is underway at Jaggi Vasudev-founded Isha Foundation in Coimbatore on Tuesday, 1 October, a day after the High Court of Madras sought the details of all cases filed against the foundation.
A large posse of police personnel is at the foothills of Velliangiri, where the foundation is headquartered on Coimbatore outskirts.
On 30 September, the court sought the details of criminal cases while hearing a habeas corpus petition by a retired professor, S Kamaraj, who claimed his two daughters were illegally detained at the foundation.
Kamaraj submitted that his daughters, both post-graduates in engineering, went to learn yoga at the foundation and stayed back. He alleged that the young women were brainwashed into continuing at the foundation as hermitesses. They were not allowed to meet their parents or relatives, the court was told.
A bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Shivagnanam sought the details of criminal cases against the foundation after the petitioner’s counsel mentioned that a doctor attached to the centre was facing charges under the POCSO Act.
The young women, who were produced before the court, said their parents had abused them, and added that they were staying at the foundation of their volition.
Taking note of the women’s tonsured head and a picture of Isha Foundation founder Jaggi Vasudev marrying off his daughter, the court questioned why he has been preaching women to be ascetics while giving away his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Petitioner Kamaraj said his daughters’ privacy would be protected if they came out of the foundation.
The court will take up the case for further hearing on Friday, 4 October.
(Edited by Majnu Babu)
