Who Was Sadhvi Prem Baisa: Unanswered Questions Behind Her Death

Clad in saffron and buried in a sitting position as per Nath traditions, a small village in western Rajasthan, Pareu, bid farewell to Sadhvi Prem Baisa. 

The last rites of the 23-year-old sadhvi, who died in mysterious circumstances after being administered an injection at her Jodhpur ashram, were conducted in this small hamlet, her native village. Her death has left behind many unanswered questions, which the Jodhpur police are still nowhere close to unravelling.

Father's Refusal To Take The Body For Post-Mortem 

Prem Baisa reportedly fell unconscious after being administered an injection by a compounder who was called to the ashram. The doctors at the hospital declared her 'brought dead' at 5:30 pm on the evening of January 28. The doctor at Praksha Hospital, Praveen Jain, told NDTV that he had advised her father to take the body for a post-mortem and even offered an ambulance, but her father, Veeram Nath, instead took the body back in his vehicle to the ashram.

"We were shocked and saddened by what the sadhvi had written about Agni Pariksha. We rushed to the ashram as we have been associated with her for many years. I attend all her satsangs and follow her videos," said Rudhra Pratap Singh, a devotee who works as a financier and property dealer in Jodhpur,  who rushed to the Boranada ashram as soon as he saw a post on the sadhvi's Instagram handle -- which was posted after her death.

But according to Rudhra Pratap, what we saw at the ashram was unusual. 

"A crowd had collected outside the ashram-people like me who had heard about the sadhvi's post and death," said Rudhra Pratap Singh. "But what I saw was very unusual. The sadhvi's father was sitting with her body inside a white Scorpio on the road. He had not taken the body inside, and he was constantly talking on the phone. The police arrived at about 10:30 pm and then persuaded him to take the body for a post-mortem, but it appeared like he was resisting. He kept asking for justice. Then some of us persuaded him that if he wants justice, he has to follow the process of law. It was only then that he agreed to take the body to the government hospital. He was also not willing to part with Sadhvi ji's phone; the police had to take it away from him."

What The Police Said 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, ACP Jodhpur Chavi Sharma confirmed that people in the area had reported Veeram Nath's unusual behaviour, where he continued to sit with the body of the sadhvi in the car instead of taking her into the ashram.

"The father, Veeram Nath, was advised to take the body for a post-mortem, but instead he took her back to the ashram, which is their home," said Chavi Sharma. "Possibly because of trauma or shock, or maybe because he didn't understand what was to be done, he did not take the body for post-mortem. When I reached the ashram after about 10:30 pm, I found Veeram Nath sitting inside the vehicle with the body of the sadhvi in his lap."

"We have heard from people, neighbours, and others who had collected there that he sat continuously in the vehicle with the body, and the vehicle was parked on the road. We are corroborating and verifying all these versions. It is a very sensitive case and has to be handled as such. The sadhvi's phone was taken away from her father and given to a neutral person; it will be part of the investigation. We will now proceed in the matter now that the final rites have been performed. The post-mortem report has been kept reserved by the medical experts; it is their discretion," Sharma added. 

Witness Accounts

Large crowds who gathered outside the ashram and also for the last rites at Pareu on Friday testify to the fact that the 23-year-old sadhvi, who made her name as a religious storyteller, was popular in this part of Rajasthan.

Upon hearing of her death, a crowd of 150 to 200 people gathered outside the ashram, emotional over her post asking for Agni Pariksha and demanding justice for the young girl who, insiders say, led a life of hardship and struggle.

Daughter Of A Truck Driver

The family's journey began in Pareu village. Local villagers say Veeram Ram and his wife, Amru Devi, had a daughter who initially, for the first two years after she was born, lived mainly with her maternal grandparents. The mother, Amru Devi, was religiously inclined, and the father, Veeram Ram Jat (Sai), was a truck driver. 

The parents were followers of Jasnathji, a sect of the Nath Panth popular in western Rajasthan.

Amru Devi was religiously inclined, but her devotion and rituals at the local shrine of Jasnathji in her village, Pareu, ran into opposition, with local villagers objecting to the couple dominating the small shrine through their prayers and bhajans. 

The family then left the village with their young daughter, Prem Baisa, nearly three decades ago and moved to a place called Jasthi in Jodhpur, where they became caretakers of the Jasnathji shrine in Jasthi village. 

Prem Baisa went with her parents. Her mother died when she was just about 4 years old, and she has since then been brought up by her father, Veeram Ram, now known as Veeram Nath after he took sanyas and also inducted her into the Nath tradition.

She was trained in Jodhpur under a gurukul led by Kripa Ram Maharaj, where she studied the scriptures and began giving religious discourses at the age of 12. Her charisma and singing soon attracted a large following, and she became popular. 

Insiders say donations started coming in, and the father-daughter duo built three ashrams: one in Jodhpur's Boranada, another in their native village of Pareu (to which the family returned more prosperous in 2014), and the other at the shrine in Jasthi near Jodhpur, where Prem Baisa's mother, Amru Devi, was also buried as per Nath traditions.

Last Rites Over; Police Will Question Father

Speaking to NDTV after the burial rites of Prem Baisa in Pareu, her father has now admitted to the media that he is the one who posted her message on Instagram, according to her death wish.

"Thirty seconds after her death, her condition deteriorated," he said. "She said, 'Papa Guruji, take me to hospital.' On the way she said, 'I never got justice, but now I hope after I go I will get justice. I have faith in Sanatan,' she said." 

"I am heartbroken," Veeram Nath said, sobbing. "The compounder may have given a wrong injection; maybe it was of an expired date. It will be clear in the medical report," he said.

Referring to the controversial video where he and Prem Baisa are seen hugging, he said: "Prem Baisa had met the Shankaracharya also regarding this, and she was assured of justice. They told her to carry on her good work in the service of Sanatan. She was supposed to hold discourses in Ajmer next week. The compounder gave her an injection as she had a bad throat and she had to go to a programme, so he said an injection will help her recover faster."

Veeram Nath has admitted that the social media post, which came nearly four hours after her death, was posted by him.

"It was her last wish, her last words. She said, 'Guruji Papa, I seek justice. Please give me justice.' So I asked her what justice, and she said, 'I have written a letter to all saints asking for justice.' That's why I followed her last wish. I don't want to hide anything, and I don't want anything to be hidden. People should know everything about this case and the investigation," he said.

CCTV Removed

Police sources investigating the case said CCTV cameras in the Jodhpur ashram have been removed. The police are investigating when this happened, as a CCTV video of Prem Baisa and her father inside the ashram had gone viral in July last year. 

In the CCTV video, taken and leaked from Prem Baisa's room, Prem Baisa is seen hugging her father, Veeram Nath, in a room in which another woman is also seen coming to remove a blanket and then walking out. The door of the room is open, and the sadhvi had called it an expression of affection.

Prem Baisa had called this video an attempt to humiliate the relationship between a father and a daughter. The police, who investigated the case, had arrested one person in connection with making the video viral.

It is possible that the CCTVs in the Jodhpur ashram were removed after the incident, police sources say.

The compounder who administered the injection to Prem Baisa has been questioned, but the probe will only make headway once the post-mortem report arrives at a conclusion and the other witnesses to the death, like her father and associates, are questioned.