Sunday, March 7, 2010

Tainited swami Nityananda surfaces, says he never breached law

08/03/2010
Chennai: Breaking his silence in the sex scandal in which he allegedly figured, self-styled godman Nityananda Swami on Sunday claimed he has not done anything "illegal" and that he was a victim of a smear campaign.
"There have been many allegations against me and my organisations in recent days...I want to assure you all, all of you, that nothing illegal has been done by me or by any of my organisations," he said in a video clip recorded at an undisclosed location, a week after his alleged sleazy acts were telecast on TV channel drawing widespread protests. The tainted swami gave an impression of 'all is well' in the video clip, putting forth his point of view on the matter.

"We are in the process of collecting evidence to establish the falsity and motive of this smear campaign that has been going against me. I will address all the allegations and issue a detailed explanation. We will find out the truth and will come back to you very soon.
Another case filed
Meanwhile, another case has been filed against self-styled godman Nityananda Swami on a complaint by an ashram inmate who has claimed that he had shot the video purportedly showing the Swami in a compromising position with an actress which was later telecast on TV channels.
Police Commissioner T Rajendiran told reporters here today that Sri Nithya Dharmananda alias K Lenin had said in his complaint that he had shot the video and submitted a CD of the purported act caught on camera.
"We have filed a case under different sections of IPC (including rape and criminal intimidation) based on the complaint. The case does not come under our jurisdiction, and it would be transferred to Karnataka police and Tamil Nadu DGP (Letika Saran) has spoken to her Karnataka counterpart," he said.
Police had earlier filed a case of cheating against Nityananda following a complaint by a group of Madras High Court advocates.
Rajendiran said Dharmananda had said in his complaint that he had been staying in the Nityananda Dhyanapeetam in Bangalore since 2006 and levied different charges against the Swami including that he had forced some individuals into homosexual acts who had later left the ashram, besides being intimate with women devotees. He had also said one person was found dead under "mysterious circumstances" in the ashram while another attempted suicide.
Dharmananda said he had shot the latest video "showing Nityananda with the actress" in December last year with a view to expose him and sought police action against him to "protect devotees and Hinduism", Rajendiran said.
He had alleged that he was threatened twice by Nityananda and some of his disciples on suspicion that he had shot a video, Rajendiran said.
The video aired on Tamil TV channels recently had caused a furore, with some Hindu groups and others protesting against Nityananda even as Karnataka government promised "very strict" action against him.
The Ashram, however, has said there was a "conspiracy" to malign Nityananda's reputation and maintained that the video footage was morphed.
Source: PTI, India Syndicate
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K.Venugopal
#1
08 March 2010 10:42:22
The swami's statement is a disappointment, coming as it does after so many days. What evidence is he waiting for to establish the falsity of the charges against him? And why is he speaking from an undisclosed location, even camouflaging his background in the video statement - almost like what the terrorists do. All he has to do is to simply say that he has not had sex with anyone. If he is not able to state this directly and unambiguously, he will always be suspected of trying to escape the charges on technical grounds. I hope the detailed explanation he has promised will salvage his image.

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3685595&ucid=309475#uc2Lst309475

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