KOCHI: The police probing the alleged illegal detention and physical torture of a woman at a yoga centre at Tripunithura have informed the Kerala High Court the woman’s allegations were found to be true during investigation. In a statement, Udayamperoor SI K A Shibin said more than 40 persons were living in a congested building which housed the yoga centre.
Swetha, the woman who had lodged the complaint against the centre, had alleged yoga master Manoj alias Guruji and his aides forced her to re-embrace Hindu religion. Her father and family members had forced her to go to the centre for counselling. When she protested against the ill-treatment meted out there, her hands were tied and she was forced to sleep on the floor. She alleged she was illegally detained for 22 days and coerced into changing her decision to marry a Christian. The police said investigation was under way and the fifth accused, Sreejesh, was arrested and remanded in judicial custody. They said applications were filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam for recording the complainant’s statement under CrPC Section 164. The statement was filed in response to a petition filed by Rinto Issac, who claimed to have married Swetha. According to police, one Sruthi of Cheruthazham, Kannur, had also given a statement against the yoga centre and a case was registered.