Shiva Shankar Baba booked under Pocso, IPC after complaints by former students

A day after Mahabalipuram all-women police station registered a case against Shiva Shankar Baba, founder of a residential school, under various sections of the IPC, Pocso Act and Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, following sexual abuse complaints from a few alumni of the school in Kelambakkam, the state police chief, on Sunday, transferred the case to CB-CID for further probe.

A police officer claimed that the cases were filed against the self-styled godman based on three complaints and Pocso Act has been charged in two of them. The complainants alleged that Shiva Shankar Baba had sexually harassed them and claimed that the incidents happened a few years ago when they were studying in the educational institution.

Baba, who was summoned by the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child’s Rights (TNCPCR) for a hearing into the matter, did not appear before the panel claiming that he had suffered a heart attack. Sources said that Shiv Shankar Baba is in North India and admitted to a hospital there.

It may be noted that sexual harassment complaints started pouring in against many after the Chennai police arrested Rajagopalan, 59, teacher of PSBB school in KK Nagar on charges of sexually harassing girl students.

In another case involving a karate teacher, arrested for sexual harassment of his student, CB-CID has seized the phones and computer of the suspect, Kebi Raj, who has been running Hi-Impact Martial Arts School in Anna Nagar.

His student had alleged that in 2014, when they were returning to the city after participating in a judo tournament in Namakkal, he attempted to sexually assault her in a moving vehicle.