Bangalore: The Karnataka CID on Wednesday said one of
the victims of the sex scandal case involving self-styled
godman Nityananda was in touch with police and efforts were on
to convince the person to give a statement.
"One victim is in touch with us", DIG, CID, Charan Reddy
told reporters here today, but refused to divulge details.
He said no one, except this victim, has come forward so far
to record a formal statement and be questioned by the
Investigating Officer of the case.
Reddy said the victim was apprehensive of media exposure
and urged scribes to be sensitive towards such matters.
He said the self-styled godman had not denied having
entered into certain non-disclosure agreements with his
devotees, relating to "learning and practice of tantrik
secrets", exposure to nudity and "close physical proximity and
intimacy".
"There can be no enforced contract on illegal activities.
But we will consult experts on the contract," the official
said.
He said the Tamil actress reportedly seen in a compromising
position with the godman in a video clipping has not yet
presented herself for examination in response to notices sent
to her through her advocates. They have, however, denied her
presence in the video.
Asked if Nityananda would be put through a potency test, he
said a decision would be taken after the victim gives a
statement. He was evasive on whether Nityananda had requested
for any such test, saying that such a request by the accused
did not hold much significance.
To a query on whether the gender of the accused made any
difference to the case, he said the usual line of
investigation in a sexual assault case was to check whether
the incident actually took place and then to examine if the
accused was capable of committing it.
Reddy said police has received the interim forensic report
of the CDs seized from the godman's ashram at Bidadi, but
refused to share details saying it was crucial for
investigations.
He said police are currently not looking at sending a team
abroad to visit Nityananda's ashrams. "We do not need to visit
the ashrams now, but are willing to record the statement of
any witness when they visit India", he said.
Police have already shared details with central agencies
on financial transactions carried out by Nityananda, he said.
The self-styled godman landed in a controversy in March
after TV channels telecast aired video footage showing him
purportedly in a compromising position with a Tamil actress.
He was arrested from Solan in Himachal Pradesh on April 21.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010, 20:25