BENGALURU: Allegations of selective harassment against devotees of controversial spiritual leader Swami Nithyananda at Kempegowda International Airport has surfaced after a devotee uploaded a video on Facebook and started a petition on change.org.
In the video and petition, Canadian citizen Kathleen Bickert has alleged that immigration and security officials at KIA have been “singling out and harassing Nithyananda’s devotees and even sexually harassing some of them.” Moreover, she has alleged that the personnel have turned away four devotees in the last two weeks and have declared that they would turn away every tourist who follows Nithyananda.
Senior officials of the Immigration Department in the city said that the petition which complains of sexual harassment has not yet come to their attention. Action will be taken if allegations are found true, the officials said. Both the petition and video were uploaded on Sunday. The petition was addressed to the External Affairs Minister.
Humiliating questions
In a video posted in Facebook, she narrated her own ordeal in 2012. After being cornered at KIA by an ‘Immigration Officer’ and security personnel, when she was flying back to Canada, she said that she was subjected to humiliating and inappropriate questions. “One asked ‘how many times has your Guru touched you’. When I replied that my Guru has never touched me, one of them said, ‘Oh, Is he sending you back because you didn’t let him’,” she said.
Stating that it was the first time she was sexually harassed, she said the personnel asked for ‘explicit details’, which had forced her to keep quiet about it for the past few years.
She alleged that recently, an Australian tourist and devotee of Nithyananda, Marianne Bronn was not allowed into the country. The officials told her that she was following a liar and they were helping her by sending her back. Such actions, she said, directly infringed on her religious rights.
Religious discrimination is a crime, she added. “I will never fly in or out of KIA when visiting India,” she added.When contacted, Labhu Ram, Joint Director, Foreigners Regional Registration Office, said that such an issue has not come to their notice. “Officials can send an individual back only if visa rules have been violated. We will look into the issue,” he said.