HC asks parents of Nityananda's devotee to file fresh petition

When the habeas corpus petition, filed by the couple Munnur Krishnamurthy and Jayanthi, parents of Santhosh, a hotel management graduate, came up for hearing before division bench headed by Justice Dilip B Bhosale, the court directed the petitioners to file a fresh petition as they had not provided the necessary information.

In the petition filed yesterday by the couple, it was submitted that their son Santhosh had become a disciple of Nityananda and was staying at his ashram in Bidadi since 2009.

The petitioners further stated that of late they had not been able to contact their son at the ashram and that he was being "illegally detained" at the ashram and not allowed to come out of the ashram and meet them.

They prayed for a direction to the jurisdictional police to produce their son before the court.

Nithyananda is already embroiled in a spate of criminal cases, including rape and physical assault. His ashram was recently raided by police in the wake of a US-based woman alleging she was sexually abused by Nithayananda over a period of five years.