Nityanand Ashram habeas corpus case: Young daughters of complainant didn’t appear, next hearing on Dec. 20

Ahmedabad: The two young daughters of a former disciple of controversial self-styled god-man Nityanand, who has filed a complaint against him and his Ashram here for alleged ill-treatment with two of his minor children, did not turn up before the Gujarat high court again here today during the hearing of the habeas corpus petition seeking their physical production before the court.

Earlier on the last date of hearing ie November 26 also the duo did not turn up. Police today informed the court that the two girls were talking to them over video call but their location was untraceable as they were using proxy network for making the calls. They were putting several conditions for appearing before the court.
The court asked the police to produce them on the next date of hearing on December 20. It also instructed the Ashram counsels to cooperate in this matter.
The court has already instructed the police to give them protection from airport or any other point of arrival to the court and back again if they appear here, DySP Rural K T Kamaria who is investigating the case said.

The court is hearing the habeas corpus petition for the production of the two major daughters of the petitioner, eldest of whom Lopamudra alias Tatwapriya Ananda is allegedly living abroad and the younger one Nityanandita who had reportedly fled abroad via Nepal. The petition has been filed by their father Tamilnadu based Janardan Sarma.

The court had earlier ordered the investigating agencies, police and other concerned authorities to produce them before the court by today. The court had observed that the duo should appear in the court personally and say whether or not they were under any kind of pressure. It also said that the police should take help of the concerned Indian embassy to know the location of the two girls. It said that the police should produce the two before it even if it had to go to Trinidad or some other country to get them.

Notably amid other demands for appearance before the court here the two sister were also demanding release of the two ladies associated with the Ashram of Nityanand including its local care-taker and young Sadhvi Pranpriya arrested in the sensational case pertaining to alleged kidnapping and misbehaviour with their younger brother and sister. Pranpriya and her aide Priyatatva were arrested by police on November 20 morning.

Lopa Mudra (21) had gone abroad from Bengaluru Ashram while Nityanadita (19) had disappeared mysteriously from Ahmedabad and later joined her presumably in a Caribbean country . They had expressed their unwillingness to join their parents. However their 14 year old third sister and 12 year old brother who were also living in the Ashram here in Hathijan area on the land of DPS East school were handed over to their parents and on the basis of their statement the police has lodged the case.

Lopa Mudra, had alleged that his father has done embezzlement of Ashram money.
Sarma’s advocate Priyesh Shah said that the two girls have so far produced numerous videos but there whereabouts were not known. They should be produced before the court as there was apprehension that they have been kept under captivity by the Ashram people and the videos issued by them might have been issued under pressure.

On November 1 Sarma, had approached the police claiming that the Nityanand ashram and the school run by it on the DPS leased school administration in Hathijan area of the city had forcefully kept four of his children including the three daughters. He later approached the court too. His second daughter Nityanadita dodged the police to escape most likely abroad via Nepal from here.

The whole episode took a nasty turn with the two young daughters addressing the media over video calls and dressed in saffron robes yet wearing designer ear-rings, made very serious allegations against their own parents. The eldest one had alleged that her father had done embezzlement of a huge some of Ashram money. They youngest one about whose whereabouts no one including the police is sure, claimed that her mother Bhuwaneshwari was in to an illicit relationship with another man.