Anbu Jothi Ashram case: Accused moves HC seeking bail

CHENNAI: Seven accused arrested in connection with the Anbu Jothi Ashram case on Tuesday filed a bail plea at the Madras High Court on Tuesday.

The home, Anbu Jothi Ashram at Kundalapuliyur near Villupuram was shut recently after serious allegations of sexual assault, human trafficking and complaints like drugging of its inmates surfaced. There has been complaints of rape and human trafficking from the mental care home run by Jubin Baby and his wife Maria hailing from Kerala. The probe into the Anbu Jothi Ashram came out when US resident Salim Khan's friend Halideen filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court after finding Salim's uncle Zafirullah (70) missing from the ashram.

Then, the Villupuram police arrested Jubin Baby, owner of Anbu Jothi Ashram and 7 others in connection with the case and sent to prison. It was revealed that the owners of the ashram used to transfer people undergoing mental illness to other ashrams in Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan.

Realising that the enormity of the issue warranted an inter-state investigation, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) which also reported the probe on the Bengaluru home. Subsequently, the ashram owner Jubin Baby and 6 others filed a bail plea in the Madras High Court on Tuesday.

The petitioners contended that the Anbu Jothi Ashram were rescuing mentally challenged people from the roads and public places with the help of police personnels and a proper treatment was given to them in various homes. "The complaint against the Anbu Jothi Ashram is completely false and baseless. We have run the ashram for 25 years with proper licences, certificates and all the allegations including sexual assault, human trafficking and drugging are false. The complaint was filed due to the pressure from the police department.

The application seeking for approval is pending in the Tamil Nadu state mental health authority. Even the state ministers Ma Subramanian and P K Sekar Babu took part in our event which was held on January 09, 2022. Under the Senior Citizen act, old age homes should be set up in every district and if the government has taken steps to set up such old age homes, there is no need for the private sector to set up such homes," the petitioners claimed in their bail plea.

The petitioners also assured that if the court grants bail, then they will not trouble the witnesses. The bail plea is expected to come up for hearing Justice AD Jagadish Chandira soon.