A court in Mathura has ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against spiritual leader Aniruddhacharya Maharaj following a complaint accusing him of making derogatory and sexist remarks about women in a viral video from October 2025. The case, filed by Meera Rathore, Agra district president of the All India Hindu Mahasabha, alleges that the comments insult women and promote harmful stereotypes, demanding his arrest and strict legal action under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity and outraging modesty.
The controversy originated during a religious discourse at Vrindavan's Gauri Gopal Ashram, where Aniruddhacharya, also known as Pookie Baba and founder of the animal welfare-focused ashram, stated, "Aajkal betiyon ki shaadi 25 varsh mein hoti hai; tab tak vah kayi jagah muh maar chuki hoti hain"—translating to "Nowadays, daughters get married at 25; by then, they have enjoyed relationships with many men." He further implied that unmarried women over 25 are promiscuous and unfit as daughters-in-law, suggesting girls should marry by 14 to preserve their "youth" and avoid premarital relations.
The video exploded on social media in October, amassing millions of views and drawing sharp condemnation from women's rights activists, celebrities like Khushboo Patani (sister of Disha Patani), and netizens who labelled the remarks misogynistic and regressive. Protests erupted outside the ashram, with demands for police action, while online discourse highlighted how such statements perpetuate victim-blaming and undermine women's autonomy in modern India. Rathore's petition to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court emphasised the remarks' potential to incite gender-based hatred.
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In response to the initial backlash, Aniruddhacharya issued a clarification video, apologising if his "incomplete words" hurt anyone and claiming the clip was edited or AI-manipulated to misrepresent his intent. He insisted his comments targeted "some individuals" rather than all women and urged against overgeneralisation, but critics dismissed the defence as evasive, noting his history of controversial statements on women's attire, film choices, and lifestyles. The CJM court accepted the complaint on December 9, 2025, and scheduled Rathore's statement for January 1, 2026, marking a formal escalation in the legal proceedings.
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