Bengal Woman Alleges Rape, Abortion, Threats By Padma Awardee Monk

A woman from West Bengal has alleged that Padma Shri awardee monk Swami Pradiptananda, also known as Kartik Maharaj, has raped her several times since 2013 under the guise of providing her with a job at a school.

The monk, linked to the Bharat Sevashram Sangha’s Beldanga unit in Murshidabad district, claimed there is a plot to “damage his reputation and prestige.” Maharaj was one of this year’s awardees of the Padma Shri – the fourth highest civilian honor – conferred for exceptional service.

The allegations against him arise amid a political conflict in the state surrounding a different rape case involving a law student, stemming from students and a staff member at her college in Kolkata.

These events come after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year, which sparked nationwide protests. In her report to Nabagram police earlier this week, the woman claimed Maharaj had assured her a position at Chanak Adivasi Abasik Balika Vidyalaya – one of the schools run by the ashram – during their meeting in December 2012.

The survivor said she was also accommodated at the school hostel in January 2013, with an assurance that she would soon be hired. “However, he would almost everyday take me to a room on the fifth floor of the premises and rape me,” she said in her complaint written in Bengali. 

“On one occasion, Maharaj summoned me and asked me to stay at his ashram for five days. He raped me here as well multiple times. He then asked me to return home and promised to send me money every month,” she added. 

The survivor said that after she got pregnant in 2013, the accused, along with some school staff, took her to a private nursing facility in Berhampore for an abortion. “He threatened me when I opposed the idea. In the presence of two (school) staff members, he spoke to a doctor at the nursing home and forced me to undergo an abortion,” she alleged. 

The complainant said she hoped and waited to get hired but continued to be sexually assaulted by the accused. “He raped me across several branches of the ashram in Murshidabad. He kept promising me a job and I kept waiting. Eventually, I broke down mentally,” she said. 

The woman said she reached out to the monk on June 12. “I called him and he asked me to wait at a particular spot in Berhampore at 7pm on June 13. He said two people would come to pick me up. When the two men arrived and I boarded their vehicle, they threatened me and asked me not to contact Maharaj again. They also abused me and pushed me from the vehicle,” she alleged.  

The woman sought stringent action against the accused. 

Maharaj dismissed the woman’s allegations against him. “Time will reveal everything. This is a conspiracy against me to malign my name and fame. There are so many women employed in our ashram and many female disciples. Ask them. Everyone will say we respect women like our mothers,” he was quoted as saying.