"I am Krishna and you are my Gopika," sounds like an appalling pickup line, but if the Karnataka police are to be believed, it was frequently employed by 33-year-old Swami Nithyananda or Paramahamsa Nithyananda of the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam at Bidadi, Karnataka, to seduce his female devotees.
The 430-page chargesheet filed by the Karnataka CID on November 27 against Nithyananda was prompted by the complaint of a young lady (whose name and identity has been withheld by the CID as part of the witness protection programme) accusing the swami of sexual abuse at the Bidadi Ashram, 37 km from Bangalore, and in other locations. Her complaint says Nithyananda insisted on "seeking moksha through sexual union" with several female devotees by claiming to be incarnations of various gods.
The swami made them sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) forbidding them to reveal sexual details. The signed NDA (in the possession of INDIA TODAY) states that "the volunteer understands that the programme may involve the learning and practice of ancient tantric secrets associated with male and female ecstasy, including the use of sexual energy for increased intimacy/spiritual connection, pleasure, harmony and freedom. Volunteer understands that these activities could be physically and mentally challenging and may involve nudity, access to visual images, graphic visual depictions and descriptions of nudity and sexual activity, close proximity and intimacy, verbal and written descriptions and audio sounds of a sexually oriented and erotic nature."
The agreement also absolves the ashram of any wrongdoing with an additional clause in the NDA: "By reading and signing this document, volunteer irrevocably acknowledges that he/she is voluntarily giving
unconditional acceptance of such activities and discharges the leader and the foundation, and anyone else not specifically mentioned here but directly or indirectly involved in the organisation, management or conduct of any such programmes from any liability, direct or indirect, arising from such activities."A further sentence states that the "volunteer also affirms that he/she does not find sexual or adult-oriented material associated with the practice of any tantric rituals or any other adult material to be offensive or objectionable."
Nithyananda's Spiritual Wares
* Advanced inner awakening programme: $6,000
* Holy rudraksha bracelet: $12
* Rudraksha mala: $35
* Meditation kit: $30
* Silver replica of his feet: $20
* Silver Guru Puja Set containing his picture, silver diya, haldi and kumkum boxes: $550
* Perpetual Calendar with the Joke of the Day: $12
DIG Charan Reddy of the CID says no court would admit an agreement like this, "full of illegalities, but we are quite sure that by the time the victims signed it, they had already been exploited or brainwashed with not much of a chance to protest." The cops claim to have snagged video clips showing the godman in compromising positions with at least five women-a charge the ashram scoffs at. "It's difficult to put a
number to his victims, but I would guess not less than 15," says Reddy.
After the chargesheet was filed, summons on the case number 204/2010 in Ramanagaram court were issued to Nithyananda, his aides Sachitananda and Sadhananda aka Ayya, the man in charge of the ashram's Tamil Nadu operations. Summons have been also issued to Ma Sachidhanantha aka Ragini who runs the Hyderabad branch of the ashram.