Chennai: Pocso case against Shiva Shankar Baba

CHENNAI: Ten days after students of Sushil Hari International School in Kelambakkam filed complaints of sexual harassment and exploitation against Shiva Shankar Baba, the self-styled godman and owner of the school, the Mamallapuram police have registered a case and transferred the probe to CB-CID.
Special teams have been formed to trace the Baba booked for offences punishable under Pocso Act, Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and IPC, reports Sindhu Kannan.
Baba claimed he was Krishna, asked students to strip for him
The Mamallapuram allwoman police registered the case after three cases, two of them from minors, alleged explicit harassment including molestation, intoxicating minors with alcohol and showing them pornography.
One survivor told police that the Baba manipulated girl students, called them to his bungalow and asked them to strip in front of him, claiming that he was Lord Krishna and they were Gopikas.
Baba, a native of Vellore, himself teaches Tamil to higher secondary students at the school, founded in 2001, police said. The complaint submitted by the survivors, said the incidents had happened a few years ago when they were studying there.
It all began on June 4, when a few of the alumni took to the social media narrating their ordeal. Soon after, Saraswathi Rangasamy, chairman of the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR) inspected the school. Since the Baba was not found on the school campus, he was asked to appear before the commission on June 11 along with the teachers, who allegedly facilitated the abuse, for inquiry. However, he failed to appear before the commission.
Sources in the commission said one of his staff members represented him and told the officials that he was on a spiritual tour of north India and had to be hospitalised there for a health issue.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)