Chennai: While the criminal cases against him meandered on at indifferent pace in the Karnataka court, godman Nithyananda continued to recruit followers across the globe and building up his huge financial empire. All his wealth came from donations from ‘devotees’ abroad and within India, who attended his satsangs and related classes at various ashrams. Some hardcore believers had also donated high-valued properties.
But now after the scams broke out relating to sexual crimes-including allegations of male devotees/ashram inmates being subjected to sodomy, young girls and women being sexually exploited-some staunch followers are dropping their ochre to raise the banner of revolt. Some of them are foreigners.
The French government has launched investigation against Nithyananda after a French ex-devotee complained that the ‘guru’ cheated him out of $400,000.
Another westerner has shaken off her devotion for Nithyananda and is a hard campaigner not just against him but the entire ‘cult’ ecology.
“I used to be the top recruiter for the Nithyananda Cult, now I’m speaking out against this highly controlling and abusive group”, says Sarah Landry on her busy twitter page where she has been opening up about the abuses and crimes allegedly done by the godman.
Of course, Sarah has been subjected to much abuse on social media from the hardcore N-followers, many of them accusing her of being a ‘Vatican plant’ to deride Hinduism.
