A Bengaluru-based couple has filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking its help to get back their two daughters who, they allege, have been illegally confined at an ashram of self-styled godman Nithyananada in Hathijan area of Ahmedabad.
In their habeas corpus petition, Janardana Sharma and his wife said their four daughters had been admitted to an educational institution run by Nithyananda in Bengaluru in 2013 when they were in the age group of 7-15 years. Later, the girls were allegedly shifted to another ashram in Ahmedabad without their consent.
The couple said they were not allowed by the ashram officials to meet their daughters. Later with the help of local police and child rights protection commission, they got the custody of two minor daughters, but the elder daughters—Lopamudra Janardhana Sharma (21) and Nandhita (18)—refused to accompany them.
The couple alleged their two minor daughters were abducted and kept in illegal confinement for more than two weeks and were deprived of sleep.
Earlier, Nandhita had reportedly appeared in a video and claimed that she was living in the ashram with her consent.
“I am living here as a sanyasi and will share the messages of Swamiji by this path. I do not want to meet my parents or contact them. I am safe here and I wish to continue here as Swamiji and sangha have taken extraordinary care of me,” the girl said in the video.
In June 2018, a Karnataka court had framed charges against the controversial godman in a rape case.
