KOLKATA: Jagadartiha Das, a monk and the chief coordinator of the globally acclaimed International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple at Mayapur in West Bengal’s Nadia district has gone missing after a security guard of the temple filed a complaint at a local police station against him.
According to the FIR filed at Nabadwip Police Station, the monk allegedly summoned his security guard to his room and sexually abused him. Local police sources said that although earlier too there were similar complaints of sexual abuse against the same monk, this was the first time a formal police complaint has been filed.
The Nadia district police Superintendent Ishani Paul has confirmed to the media persons that a complaint has been filed against the said monk and he is yet to be arrested as he went absconding. She also confirmed that the police have started a probe into the matter and have begun the process of tracking the accused monk.
The accused monk has been charged under Section 377 (unnatural offences), Section 342 (wrongful confinement) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, the temple authorities have taken up the matter seriously and they have expelled Das, who was known as Jayanta Kumar Saha during his pre-monastery days, from the association.
In his complaint, the security guard alleged that the accused monk also threatened of getting him sacked if he opened his mouth about the abuse. The victim allegedly informed the police that previously too other staff of the temple were sexually abused, though they remained silent in the face of threats.