'Was Made to Wear Makeup for Videos at Night': Teen Rescued From Nithyananda's Ashram Reveals Ordeal

Ahmedabad: A 15-year-old girl from Bengaluru, who was rescued from an ashram belonging to Nithyananda a month ago, has alleged that she was made to wear jewellery and makeup in the middle of the night and be a part of videos for the self-styled godman.

Talking about her ordeal, the teenager said she had joined the “gurukul” in May 2013. “Earlier we used to do fun activities but since 2017 there has been corruption. We had to do promotional activities for Swamiji and raise donations not in thousands but in lakhs. Donations were starting from Rs 3 lakh up to 8 crore. Either we had to get donations or land in acres," she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"In the middle of the night, they used to wake us up and make a video for Swamiji. We had to wear heavy jewellery and heavy makeup. My elder sister is not able to get out of there. I was a witness that all the videos done by my sister were directly instructed by Swamiji. They also asked her to talk about our father and mother in a bad way. They even asked me to do so but I refused," she added.

The girl’s parents got her out of the ashram with the help of the child welfare committee last month. Her father had approached the Gujarat High Court alleging that her daughter was kept captive in Ahmedabad.

"The case is moving in the right direction. Arrests have been made of two persons in the case. I have complained about getting my girl back, but they are engaged in other nefarious activities as well," said the girl's father.

Officials on Thursday said that the self-styled godman, booked in a criminal case related to his ashram here, has fled the country, with the Gujarat police working to gather concrete evidence against him after taking two of his disciples in remand.

An FIR was registered on Wednesday against the controversial guru on the charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram here, Yogini Sarvagyapeetham.

Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police R V Asari said Nithyananda has fled abroad, and if required, the Gujarat police will seek his custody through proper channel.

Nithyananda has fled the country after a rape case was registered against him in Karnataka, and it will be a waste of time searching for him here.

"If required, we will go through proper channel to seek his custody from abroad. We will definitely arrest him if he comes back to India, Asari said.

Two of his disciples, Pranpriya and Priyatatva, arrested on Tuesday on kidnapping, illegal confinement and assault, among other charges, were sent to five days police remand by a rural court here on Wednesday evening and are being questioned by the police, Deputy SP (Ahmedabad rural), K T Kamariya said.

Nithyananda is also an accused in an alleged rape case filed against him in Karnataka.