New Delhi: A red Volvo with a “UN” number plate, a BMW, a fake visiting card of “permanent ambassador of UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)”—Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati had built around himself a larger-than-life aura and knew how to show off in elite circles to project himself as an “internationally acclaimed writer.” But none of this corresponded with the reality: he is a serial sexual offender, according to students who have passed from Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management and Research (SRISIIM), located in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.
Serving as the caretaker of the institute for over a decade, Chaitanyananda allegedly sexually harassed at least 17 students over the past two years, even as former students revealed to The Sunday Guardian that he targeted scores of female students who would take admission in his institute under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.
The script of the self-styled godman’s dirty film underlines a shrewd strategy: he first ensured that the institute admitted poor female students on the pretext that management courses would be offered at cheap prices, conducted an induction programme for new students where his target-girls would be “shortlisted” and then approach such students via his coterie—a group of institute staffers who would coerce these students to comply with any demand of Swami Chaitanyananda.
That several of these staffers were former students themselves itself makes it clear that the self-styled godman had been trapping female students for over a decade. But what helped him continue to pull off this charade was money power, his continuous visibility in elite circles, proximity to politicians and his projection of himself as a “dignitary with foreign citizenship.”
“He has harassed multiple female students between 2015 and 2025—this is what I can vouch for because I have seen female students suffering because of what they have faced. Students both junior and senior to me were harassed by this baba. Those who would comply with his demands for sexual favours would be rewarded while those who objected to were threatened with dire consequences. I have seen female students stand outside his cabin till as late as 11 pm in what was a punishment for refusing to comply with his demands for sexual favours,” a former student who was expelled from the institute told The Sunday Guardian.
This student’s expulsion was a reward for helping a female victim escape the institute and encouraging other girls to raise their voice against Chaitanyananda.
While all skeletons are coming out of the dubious baba’s closet now, the female student mentioned above had lodged an FIR against Chaitanyananda way back in 2016 in the Vasant Kunj police station, the Delhi police’s women’s cell and also with the Sringeri Mutt, one of the four monasteries of Advaita school in Hinduism, under whose aegis the SRISIIM runs.
“This student was junior to me and belonged to Uttar Pradesh. Sometime in 2015, I saw her standing outside Chaitanyananda’s cabin. I noticed that she was punished in this way for days and soon realised that she was a target of Chaitanyananda. I secretly approached her and offered to help her. She was hesitant initially but later realised that I was genuinely trying to help. She then opened up to me and sought my help to escape the institute. I helped her escape the institute with her belongings but even after that, Chaitanyananda continued to harass her family for almost six months,” he said.
The ex-student further revealed that Chaitanyananda never approached the female students directly but it was his coterie which helped him do so.
“There were at least three-four female staffers who would approach the students with Chaitanyananda’s demands. This was done very shrewdly. The girls would first be promised internships in foreign institutes, lucrative jobs and would also be given charge of functions and special events that would be organised in the institute. Gradually, their personal phones would be confiscated, they would be handed over iPhones or Blackberry phones and Swami would start chatting with them,” he said.
The ex-student further said that Chaitanyananda would send messages to female students praising them for their looks and texts like, “I love you Baby.” Chaitanyananda would further take these girl students to other cities like Mathura and Rishikesh on the pretext of internships and also coerce them to accompany him on foreign trips.
“The female staffers of SRISIIM—most of whom were former students of the institute—were asked to ensure that the girls agreed to Chaitanyananda’s demands. There was a room inside the girls’ hostel of the institute which had a washroom where a secret landline phone was installed. This landline phone was used by Chaitanyananda’s aides and female staffers of his coterie to make him speak to the self-styled Godman. It was like a jail for girls. Those who objected were disallowed to talk to their parents,” he said.
Not only did such female staffers help Chaitanyananda resort to sexual harassment of the female students but also helped erase crucial evidence from their phones like WhatsApp chats and messages sent by Chaitanyananda to them, a police officer told The Sunday Guardian. However, some students managed to take screenshots of such lewd texts.
Those who objected to his advances were also threatened by Chaitanyananda who would claim to “fail them and ruin their future” and the institute would also withhold their educational certificates while all contact with their parents would be cut off.
After the ex-student helped a female student of the institute escape the premises of SRISIIM, he was expelled from the institute on the pretext that he was indulging in campus politics and attempting to become a leader.
“I paid a huge price for trying to help the female students raise their voice. After I was expelled, I shot off a complaint to government authorities but to no avail,” he told The Sunday Guardian.
He further said that while Chaitanyananda had been indulging in such illegal activities since a long time, the list of his targets grew with time as he stopped the induction of male students and would focus on admitting only female students.
“Way back in 2014, over three-fourth of students were male students and only a few of them were female. He wouldn’t dare harass women in the presence of so many male students but gradually, the admission of male students was stopped and the institute only started admitting female students. When I was studying in the institute, the number of female students was only one-third of the total number of students but gradually the institute stopped enrolling male students. These days, there is hardly any male student in the institute. This ensured that Chaitanyananda’s list of targets grew with time,” he said.
The ex-student further said that the young woman lodged a complaint against Chaitanyananda in the Vasant Kunj police station in 2016 against all odds but the police never arrested him.
“Whenever a police team would reach the institute, the cops would be told that Chaitanyananda was abroad. He was never arrested. The female student kept fighting against him but she too lost faith in the system after a legal battle of about three years. She would travel hundreds of kilometres every day from her hometown to Delhi in connection with the proceedings of the case in 2016 but later lost hope,” he further said.
The student said that using a Red Volvo, a UN number plate, a BMW and a visiting card claiming to be a permanent ambassador of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), was part of a well-planned strategy to project himself as an internationally acclaimed writer.
A senior police officer confirmed that these visiting cards and the UN number plate were all fake and Chaitanyananda was not entitled to use any of them.
‘WRITER’ OF BOOKS
The godman is claimed to have written at least 28 books. One such book, titled “Corporate Governance” has a profile of Chaitanyananda in which it has been claimed that he has authored 143 research papers and that he holds an MBA and a PhD from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.
Further, the profile mentions that he is “the Editor-in-Chief of two reputed international research journals” and that he had also been conferred with seven Honorary D. Litt degrees from different universities in India and abroad.
The author profile further mentions that “Forget Classroom Learning”—one of Chaitanyananda’s books—carries a foreword by Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs and also claims that former US President Barack Obama had referred to his book “Transforming Personality” several times during his election campaign.
The ex-student told The Sunday Guardian that Chaitanyananda had built around himself an aura and projected himself as a noted professor, author, orator, educationist, and “an exponent of quantum consciousness.” The student revealed how Swami used to prey on poor girls and daughters from families.
“The Baba used to claim that he could fly an airplane, run a train, and even knew how to fire a gun. A Muslim girl had also saved herself from the shackles of Chaitanyananda. Those who complied with his demands for sexual favours were rewarded in functions and events and those who rejected them were punished,” he said.
Not only this, Chaitanyananda also allegedly siphoned off at least Rs 10 crore of the main trust that runs the institute and transferred this money to his own bank accounts. According to the complaint, Chaitanyananda created a parallel trust and siphoned off at least Rs 20 crore from the original Shri Sharada Peeth trust into his personal accounts.
The Delhi police has frozen Rs 8 crore parked in 18 bank accounts and 28 fixed deposits in the name of Chaitanyananda.
While the Delhi Police has registered three FIRs against Chaitanyananda, one of them pertains to the embezzlement charges levelled by the Sringeri Mutt against Chaitanyananda. The other FIRs pertain to charges of sexual harassment levelled by 32 female students (16 of them testified in court) and the usage of a fake UN car numberplate by him.
To avoid arrest, the self-styled godman had moved an anticipatory bail application before the Patiala House Court but it was rejected by the court on Friday.
During the hearing, Chaitanyanand’s counsel sought interim protection, arguing that the accused would cooperate with the investigation if granted a few days’ time. However, the Delhi Police opposed the request, stating that custodial interrogation was required to carry out recoveries and visits to multiple locations.
The court questioned the defence over Chaitanyanand’s reluctance to join the probe despite claims that all documents were available. After the arguments, ASJ Hardeep Kaur, presiding over Court No. 15, dismissed the anticipatory bail plea.
The godman continues to be absconding and is yet to surrender before police and join the investigation.
