Bengaluru: When Niranjana Murthy was 17, his poor English language abilities forced him to drop out of college. Fearing that he would lose a year, his parents, both government teachers, enrolled him in a yoga college. It went on to become the biggest turning point in his life.
“I did my 10th grade in Biligere (Tumakuru), and English was very difficult for us to grasp. In my 2nd PUC (pre-university college), I secured just 14 marks in English and failed,” Murthy, now 55, told Siri TV in an interview six years ago.
“Marks are just a direction to our life and not life itself,” he added. This philosophy, he said, would help youngsters not be bogged down on account of low grades and prevent them from feeling depressed.
A well-known ambassador of yoga globally, Murthy claimed he was part of several international organisations, universities, and acclaimed events with a following of several hundred thousand.
The yoga guru has been accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl. The Rajarajeshwarinagar police in Bengaluru arrested Murthy on Wednesday, after he went into hiding since the complaint was officially filed on 30 August.
“There are two parts of this assault. When she was a minor, she was sexually assaulted. Now, after she had turned major, she was raped. So, certain sections of POCSO, which do not involve rape, have been invoked for the offences that he had committed when she was a minor. Rape section has been invoked for the offence that he has committed after she turned major,” said a senior police official, requesting anonymity.
The survivor was 17 when Murthy first assaulted her in Thailand, and the second time was in his yoga school in RR Nagar.
A case was filed on 30 August, and the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been invoked.
However, ThePrint has learned that this is not his only crime.
‘Probing older cases’
According to the police, Murthy is a serial offender and has cases dating back several years.
“The yoga space is not regulated. So, he would lure young girls with the promise to take them abroad and represent India in yoga competitions,” the senior officer said.
Investigations into his crimes so far have revealed that Murthy was accused of sexual harassment in Puducherry two years ago.
“He was let go after he wrote an apology letter,” the police official said.
The Bengaluru police have been trying to track down the details of this case and others where the victims were talked out of lodging complaints by their own family members.
“He has been doing this for the past 30 years, and hardly anyone has come forward. In many cases, when the victims share this with their family members, they are often made to feel as if they were in the wrong. In many other cases, families stay away since they do not want the details of this coming out. This has emboldened him,” the officer said.
The police are trying to get more people to come forward, but it has been difficult. Most families don’t want to revisit the trauma.
Murthy is a well-known name in Bengaluru’s health and wellness circles. At least a few ministers from the previous government would avail of his services, the official said, making him politically well-connected.
Murthy has also remained hostile since his arrest.
In the beginning, he claimed that he had done no wrong. But upon further investigation, he is said to have admitted to rape a few months ago.
Murthy first started his school, Sri Guru Raghavendra Swami Antara Yoga, in Bengaluru’s Giri Nagar, with just eight students. He now claims that over 8 lakh people are associated with the yoga school, which has centres globally.
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Murthy’s global ambitions
Murthy is the founder and director of Sunshine The Yoga Zone at BEML Layout in RR Nagar, and also an office bearer of the Karnataka Yogasana Sports Association (KYSA).
He was a teacher at Vasavi School in the early 1990s, earning a modest Rs 300 per month. Murthy started the yoga school in 1993, and a year later, his first ‘national’ tournament was in Jaipur. However, the event was cancelled when the delegation arrived.
Murthy explains that the entire Karnataka contingent was trapped in Jaipur, and then Karnataka Chief Minister S Bangarappa made arrangements for them to stay in Rajasthan until they could be brought back.
Five years later, his modest school would get international recognition. He claims to have been crowned “champion of champions” of yoga in a competition in Hannover, Germany, in 2000. After this, he said, he was invited for collaborations by various institutes, including Karnataka’s Kuvempu University.
He would then go on to be part of several international events, and the organisation he runs conducts an annual yoga event in a different country. In the interview given six years ago, he rattled out a five-year plan to conduct events in China, Vietnam, Dubai, Singapore, and Thailand.
It was at one such international event that Murthy was accused of sexual assault.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)