Spiritual leader Aniruddhacharya has been accused of making derogatory remarks about women. The complaint, filed by Meera Rathore -- the Agra District President of the All India Hindu Mahasabha -- was accepted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court, which has now registered the matter. The court will record Rathore's statement on January 1.
The controversy traces back to a video that went viral in October, in which Aniruddhacharya commented on young women and marriage. The remark triggered widespread criticism online, with many social media users and women's groups accusing him of making statements that demean women and perpetuate stereotypes.
Rathore, who leads the Agra unit of the Hindu Mahasabha, publicly denounced the comments, saying they were unbecoming of a religious figure. "Such statements do not befit our saints," she said. She initially filed a complaint at the Vrindavan police station, but when no FIR was registered, she escalated the matter to the court.
Rathore revealed that she had taken a personal vow as part of her protest. "Ever since I filed the petition, my hair has remained loose," she said. "I had decided that I would not tie my braid until a case was filed. Now that the court has accepted our petition, perhaps the time has come to tie it again."
She has demanded that a formal case be filed and that Aniruddhacharya be sent to jail for what she describes as "insulting remarks against women."
Her counsel, Manish Gupta, confirmed that the police had not acted on the original complaint at Vrindavan Kotwali. The decision to approach the CJM court, he said, was taken after the police failed to register a case despite her objections.
After the video attracted criticism, Aniruddhacharya issued a clarification, arguing that his words had been taken out of context. He said he had made comments about both men and women, and the intention was not to single out women. "A woman who has relationships with multiple men cannot be of good character, and a man who has relationships with multiple women is considered an adulterer," he said in his statement. "The matter was presented to the public in a distorted manner."
He maintains that the viral clip omitted key parts of his speech and that the interpretation circulating online does not match what he intended to convey.
