India on Friday dismissed reports that self-styled godman Nithyananda had created his own country on an island near Ecuador and said the external affairs ministry had alerted other nations where he might seek shelter that he is wanted for several crimes.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar outlined the government’s position after reports emerged, citing a website purportedly linked to the self-styled godman accused of rape, that he had established the “Hindu nation” of Kailaasa in South America.
The embassy of Ecuador in New Delhi also denied reports that Nithyananda had been granted asylum by the country and that the Ecuadorian government had helped him in purchasing an island in South America.
“We have sensitized all our missions and posts that this man is wanted in several cases of crime in India and there are cases pending against him. We have asked our missions and posts to sensitize the local government that in case he happens to transit or be in that country, they should let us know,” Kumar told a weekly news briefing.
Besides alerting other countries, the external affairs ministry cancelled Nithyananda’s passport “much before” its expiry in September 2018, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Besides alerting other countries, the external affairs ministry cancelled Nithyananda’s passport “much before” its expiry in September 2018, he said.
{{/usCountry}}“When we got information about the cases which were pending against him, what we did was we cancelled his passport first. He applied for a fresh passport, which was denied and put on hold because he couldn’t get the requisite clearance from the police. It was an adverse report from the police,” he added.
Referring to reports about Nithyananda creating his own country, Kumar said: “On an individual declaring a state or a nation, do you really expect me to answer that question? Setting up a website is very different from creating a nation. So what essentially has been done (is that) he has opened a website and he’s saying that this is my nation. So I don’t think I should really answer that question.”
It couldn’t immediately be ascertained how Nithyananda left India after his passport was cancelled last year. He is believed to have travelled to South America from Nepal, and Gujarat Police said about two weeks ago that he had fled the country as authorities were gathering evidence against him after two of his disciples were remanded to custody.
An FIR was filed against Nithyananda on charges of kidnapping and confining children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram. Officials said a rape case was also registered against him in Karnataka.
Kumar declined to speculate on Nithyananda’s current whereabouts and said extradition proceedings could start only after a formal request is received from security agencies.
The embassy of Ecuador said in a statement the country had “denied the request for international personal protection (refuge) made by Mr. Nithyananda before Ecuador and later on, Mr Nithyananda left Ecuador presumably on his way to Haiti”.
It added that all reports in the Indian media about him creating his own country were based on information allegedly sourced from the website kailaasa.org, “which is supposedly maintained by Mr Nithyananda or by his people”.