Mother of girl who died in Nithyananda ashram alleges torture, unnatural death

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The News Minute | January 4, 2014 | 11.27 am IST The parents of a girl who died in Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram in Bidadi on the outskirts of Bengaluru, have said they suspected foul play in death of their daughter. Sangeetha Arjunan (24) died on the ashram premises on December 28 and the ashram officials claimed she died of a heart attack. Her parents however, have said that Sangeetha did not have any heart condition and that they suspected foul play. The girl hails from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu and her parents had initially approached the police there. They have since met with the Ramnagara district Superintendent, under whose jurisdiction Bidadai falls. In her complaint to the Ramnagara police, the girl’s mother Jansi Rani has said that they suspected that Sangeetha’s death was unnatural as she did not suffer from any heart ailment, and also said that Sangeetha’s and her own signatures had been taken on blank papers. In her complaint Jansi Rani also spoke about alleged assaults and beatings her daughter suffered at the ashram at the hands of some of the people there. She said that in mid 2013, her daughter called her up from the ashram: “After reaching home, she showed me her legs, she had been beaten very badly below her waist & on her legs. I was shocked to see several bruises and injury marks.” She also said that the ashram officials had tried to restrict her movement on several occasion and that one person “locked up all of Sangeetha’s certificates in a cupboard and when she wanted to leave, he refused to return them to her. Another boy called Saravanan from Thanjavur tried to help sangeetha by breaking open the cupboard and getting the certificates for her. But just because he helped her, ABC and other ashramites punished him also. They beat him up badly and locked him up in a room for a few days. Finally his family and relatives went to Bidadi, got him released & took him away from ashram.” She further said: “After I left Sangeetha in the ashram, I went 3 times within 2 month to see her and to tell her to come home, but they didn’t let me meet her alone. I was only allowed to meet her along with other sanyasis in the ashram, and they kept telling me she has not finished her work, she can leave after finishing all the work assigned to her. The 3rd time when I went, they brought her to meet me, but she was in a terrible condition, she could not even walk a single step. I could not bear to watch the sight. Some 30 ashram people came with her, maybe they wanted to make sure she will not tell me anything.” “They told me promise on Kalabairava that I or any of my relatives will not give any report against Swami Nithyananda to anyone. I promised. “(sangeetha called from ashram) She said, if I continue to say wrong things about swami - they were telling her to say this – then she will file case against me! I said okay, go ahead file a case against me. Immediately after I said that, they cut the phone line. That was the last time I talked to Sangeetha. After that they did not even let me talk one word to her.” Jansi also alleged that certain people had asked her to sign blank papers if she wanted her daughter’s body back, and that she could not read either Kannada or English. Tweet

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