Jayashree Prasad, my eldest sister,
was brutally assaulted in the Ashram Dining Room at around 6.15 a.m. by one
Krishna Chandra of Orissa, in front of Veda Prakash Johar, a trustee of Ashram
Trust and the in-charge of Ashram Dining Room and in-front of Sharada-ben, who
is the deputy in-charge. Krishna Chandra is a voluntary worker and a protégé of
Veda Prakash Johar.
The said Krishna Chandra had been accosting
Jayashree for some time soliciting sexual favors and she had been repeatedly
thwarting his advances. She had even complained to Veda P. Johar and Harikant
Patel, the Managing Trustee of Ashram, both of whom had told her that these
things happen in the Ashram and one should not pay attention to them. Krishna
Chandra had already got bad record of spoiling the lives of certain girls from
the village wherefrom he came, so we were given to understand.
Finally on this day Krishna Chandra opened his
shorts in front of her and when Jayashree tried to push past him to reach some
safety, she was brutally beaten up. His supporters Girish Panda and Santosh
Nayak were also present during the assault and they were silently encouraging
him. When she was on the point of near collapse due to the trauma of assault,
Girish, who also hails from Orissa, mockingly told Krishna Chandra in oriya to
the effect that leave her for today.
Jayashree was aghast and completely broken as she
confronted Veda Prakash Johar and told him that if you think what has happened
here today in your presence is right then call me back for work and she somehow
managed to reach parents house and collapsed.
We other sisters were informed and immediately we
rushed to her side. We first went to meet Veda Prakash Johar who was trembling
on seeing us. He outright denied his presence, which was most unworthy of his
position as trustee and in-charge, while Sharda-ben confirmed his presence during the assault.
Then we went to meet Dilip Kumar Datta, who is
another trustee of Ashram Trust and also the overall medical in-charge of
Ashram medical facilities. Dilip Datta is also looking into all the legal
matters of the Ashram. He did not treat Jayashree but he exclaimed that it is a
serious police criminal case, it should not happen even at home, how can it
happen in the Ashram?! But he requested us not to go to the police when we
asked him if we could lodge a complaint at the police station. He assured us
that justice would be given and action taken but since it will create a bad
name for the Ashram, it would be better if sorted out in-house.
