Self-styled godman and founder of Sushil Hari International School in Kelambakkam, Siva Sankar Baba, who was accused of sexual harassment, has been remanded in judicial custody till July 1. He was produced before a Mahila Court in Chengalpattu on Thursday where his bail petition was dismissed. Siva Sankar Baba was arrested by the Chennai CB-CID in Delhi on Wednesday. He had reportedly been admitted to a hospital in Dehradun in Uttarakhand for a heart operation and upon being discharged, he had come to Delhi, where he was arrested.
According to reports, activists had gathered outside court on Thursday protesting and demanding stringent action against him. The police then cleared the area before a scuffle could break out. Several allegations of sexual harassment were made by students and alumni from Siva Sankar Baba’s school following which three separate FIRs were filed at the All-Women's Police Station, Mamallapuram. The FIRs have been filed under several sections of the Prevention of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and include sexual assault. The case was immediately transferred to the CB-CID when it was learned that Siva Sankar Baba was admitted to a hospital in Uttarakhand.
When CB-CID flew to Uttarakhand to apprehend the self-styled godman, he had reportedly absconded from the hospital following his surgery. The police then nabbed him in Delhi from where he was brought to Chennai on Wednesday night.
Among the allegations made against him is an account shared by an alumnus of the Sushil Hari School, of which TNM is in possession. She had narrated how Siva Sankar made her watch porn on her birthday and forced her to drink alcohol. “He spoke to me for two hours about different sexual techniques and how it’s important to have regular healthy sex with him so that I don’t get sexual thoughts with other boys,” she wrote in a testimony, which is in possession of TNM.