The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday, 11 January, said that charge sheets have been filed in all the three FIRs registered against Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand in Uttar Pradesh.
The Dasna temple priest was booked by the police in Ghaziabad last year, following a direction from NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma. In a tweet in August 2021, Sharma had asked the Uttar Pradesh Police to lodge an FIR and arrest the priest.
Recently, as several videos of the controversial religious leader went viral, Sharma sought an update from the UP Police on the status of the FIRs. The NCW conducted a hearing on Tuesday where the commission was informed that charge sheets have been filed by the UP Police in all the FIRs.
The DGP of UP, ADG Meerut, and SSP Ghaziabad were present during the hearing.
The NCW tweeted, “NCW India held a hearing in the matter today. DGP UP, ADG Meerut & SSP Ghaziabad were present during the hearing. The officials informed chairperson Rekha Sharma that charge sheet has been filed in all the 3 FIRs against Yati Narsinghanand & the matter is now before court of law.”
According to the NCW, chairperson Rekha had written to the DGP to investigate the veracity of the viral video and take appropriate action.
Earlier on 3 January, Sharma, while retweeting a video of Narsinghanand making derogatory statements on Muslim women, demanded from the UP Police to know the status of the three FIRs filed against him on NCW’s complaint.
“This man should be arrested immediately. UP Police, you did 3 FIRs against him on NCW’s complaint what happened to them? He is not fit to be part of civilized society,” she had tweeted.
The Background
Narsinghanand was booked by the UP Police for making demeaning comments against women in politics and Sharma. Ghaziabad Police had registered three First Information Reports (FIRs) against him last year.
Iraj Raj, Superintendent of Police, Rural Ghaziabad, was quoted as saying, “Three FIRs have been filed against Yati Narsinghanand for his remarks against women. The separate incidents were brought to our notice through social media in which remarks against women were made. The National Commission for Women had also objected to it, following which complaints were registered. Further investigation is pending.”
The FIRs had been registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 505(1)(c) (intent to incite offence), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (intimidation), and section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Both the FIRs were filed in Masuri police station, Indian Express reported.
One FIR mentioned that Narsinghanand, while sitting in the Dasna temple, is seen making “objectionable, insulting and threatening comments on Hindu women having relations with people from another religion.”
Another FIR was registered against Narsinghanand earlier in April 2021 after a video of him abusing and making derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad, during an event at Delhi’s Press Club, had gone viral.
Haridwar Hate Conclave
Besides the cases against him in UP for derogatory remarks against women, Narsinghanand is also being probed by the Uttarakhand Police for a hate speech conclave in Haridwar last month.
The hate speech conclave was organised by the controversial Hindutva leader from 17 to 19 December, where multiple calls to kill minorities and attack their religious spaces were made.
A part of the event was live-streamed on social media. The videos of some of the speeches have also gone viral.
Narsinghanand, the notorious priest of Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad and recently anointed 'Mahamandaleshwar' of the Juna Akhara, had earlier threatened police authorities on camera amid reports that the 'Goonda Act' might be slapped against him.
Five days after the conclave, on 23 December, the Uttarakhand Police finally registered a case against Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Tyagi and unnamed others under Section 153A of the IPC (punishment promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc).
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