Ma Nithya Jyotikananda Swami survives a harrowing encounter, just escaping rape and death by anti-Hindu henchmen who came looking to assassinate His Divine Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda and anyone else associated with Him.
October 2015
Sent as a Representative to Sri Somanatha Swami Aadheenam
In 2014, Ma Nithya Jyotikananda Swami was a young sanyasi (Hindu monk) in her early 20’s. However, her innocent age did not affect her leadership skills. As a result, she was entrusted with running the Sanyas Training Center in Salem, Tamil Nadu when she was just 23 years old.
Later, when His Divine Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda was appointed as the Mathadhipati (spiritual and legal head) by the previous pontiff Swami Atmananda for Sri Somanatha Swami Temple & Aadheenam (monastery complex), Thiruvarur in April 2014, Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami was sent as a representative of Nithyananda Peetham to take care of the temple and Aadheenam and to ensure the integrity of the rituals performed there.
27 October 2015
Just Escaped Rape and Death, The Details of the Attack
In the evening of 27 October 2015, Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami saw a man walking into the temple wearing a tracksuit. The man casually walked around taking pictures inside the temple property. There is a signboard asking devotees not to use their cellphones inside the temple. In spite of that, he was taking pictures.
This provoked Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami’s suspicion: first, because he didn’t come in traditional dress, and second because he ignored the rules. It was made clear that his intention was not for worship. He was roaming around giggling, talking loud to another person who came with him. That person was also not in traditional attire. He was wearing lungi (informal, colored dhoti).
“That time I finished pooja (temple ritual) and came out to notice who is making this loud noise inside temple premise,” Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami recalls.
“I saw that man and started walking towards him. He started turning his mobile towards me. The temple being a private property and the stranger looking unfamiliar, I walked up to him and asked, ‘Who are you? Why are you taking pictures inside the temple when there is no permission for this?’
He started laughing and said, in an utterly disgusting way, ‘Who are you to question me? I will shoot your video – what you will do about that?’
He then aimed the camera towards her body in awkward angles, at inappropriate places.
“I felt so disheartened. I tried to cover my face and told him to not take photos inside temple premises. I tried to explain to him that he cannot behave like that to a sanyasi. He teased me, pulled my hand and saree and pushed me forcefully to the ground. I lost my balance and fell down with a thud.”
He also said that if she is still there tomorrow, he will come and kill her – ‘No one will leave this place alive’.
Hearing the commotion, other disciples in the aadheenam rushed to see what was happening. When the man saw them, he quickly ran out of the temple. The other disciples helped Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami up off of the floor and they went to the police station to lodge a complaint on the perpetrator.
Police Dismissed Her Case!
She was disheartened to find that the police completely dismissed her. They were completely insensitive to her and were not cooperative in filing an FIR, dehumanizing her experience.
“Here, my dignity as a woman and a female sanyasi was put on stake by an unknown man touching me and pulling my saree, but the police were not at all cooperative in filing an FIR. The police delayed the filing, and after some time, I came to know that the police had filed an FIR from the harasser!”
Later, she found out that the police had filed an FIR from the perpetrator accusing her of harassing him before they ever considered her complaint. In fact, the perpetrator filed an FIR on all of the disciples in the Aadheenam at the time. For Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami to even file her FIR, she had to get approval from the Superintendent of Police and then file the report. It was a complete injustice against His Divine Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda and His sanyasis.
3 years later, the case of Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami is still being dragged.
Ma Nithya Jyothikananda Swami – FIR copies
Ma Nithya Jyotikananda Swami – FIR, page 1
Ma Nithya Jyotikananda Swami – FIR, page 2
Read more here:
The attack on Paramahamsa Nithyananda’s Disciples at 4 Ancient Mutts