A self-proclaimed "godman" in India has been accused of enslaving dozens of women including minors at several retreats across the country. More than 40 under-age girls were rescued from his premises in Delhi in December, but court documents say as many as 168 adult women could remain. Our correspondent Shweta Bajaj has more.

SHWETA BAJAJ NEW DELHI, INDIA "The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday registered three cases against self-styled godman Virendra Dev Dixit, after underage girls were found to be under confinement in his ashram in north Delhi Rohini. A special investigation team has also been formed to probe the matter further. The case came into light in December when a team of senior officials in Delhi, including Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal, rescued as many as 40 girls from an ashram which is a spiritual hermitage or monastery in Indian religions. The ashram was being run by a self-styled godman called Virendra Dev Dikshit, a 'baba' or holy godman believed to be obsessed with the idea of having 16,000 women with him. According to some beliefs or mythology, that's the number of wives that Lord Krishna had. The search found a maze of rooms with inhabitable conditions with girls. The girls were not allowed to meet their relatives or friends and were confined to cramped spaces with no sunlight, with metal grills blocking their exit. Reports say that Virendra Dev Dikshit made the parents of these girls to sign a stamp paper stating they are willingly handing over their daughter or daughters to him. Once in his ashram, the girls would allegedly be sexually assaulted. After the girls turned 18, Dikshit would allegedly make them sign a paper that said they were willingly staying with him. Shweta Bajaj, CGTN, New Delhi, India."