Man claims his daughters held captive at Nithyananda's ashram

According to PTI, Janardhana, who is a disciple of Nithyananda, enrolled his children at a Bengaluru-based educational institution run by Nithyananda in 2013.

However, six months ago, the children were shifted to another branch of the Yogini Sarvagyapeetham ashram, Janardhana said.

He claimed he was barred from meeting his children at the ashram, located on the premises of Delhi Public School, Ahmedabad.

On November 2, Janardhana approached police and Gujarat State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) to get his children moved out of Nithyananda's ashram.

He managed to get his two minor children- aged 13 and 15- out of the ashram.

However, two of his daughters- Lopamudra Janardhana Sharma (21) and Nandhita (18)- refused to leave, PTI reported.

Notably, on Sunday evening, an FIR was filed at the Vivekanand Nagar police station.

In the FIR, Janardhana alleged that three of his children were held captive at a bungalow beside the ashram.

The FIR booked Nithyananda and his two aides- Pranpriya and Priyatattva- for abduction, wrongful confinement over 10 days and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

A cop told TOI, "The two children were very scared when they were taken to the Ashram apartment Monday."

"After we convinced them that we'd protect them, they told us they wouldn't be allowed to go outside the apartment as one person of Ashram was always deployed with them," they said, adding that children were thrashed and forced to seek alms for the ashram.

Meanwhile, Deputy SP HS Sarda said that Janardhana's 18-year-old daughter gave a statement to the police wherein she maintained she was staying at the ashram of her own will.

In a statement to GSCPCR, she claimed she volunteers for 'sanyas' and fears being killed by her own family, GSCPCR chairperson Jagruti Pandya said.

An investigation is underway.

In 2010, Swami Nithyananda was booked for raping his former disciple.

In his defense, he had initially claimed that he was impotent, however, in March 2018, he claimed to have had "consensual sex" with the victim.

In June 2018, a Karnataka court framed charges against Nithyananda in the case, upon the Supreme Court's order, and in August, the trial commenced.