Brushing aside allegations that rape accused ‘godman’ Nithyananda has set up an island nation in Ecuador, the Ecuadorian government has denied that it granted him asylum or let him establish ‘a so-called cosmic republic’ for his followers and supporters.
“Ecuador is a sovereign and independent republic and not a res nullius (nobody’s land) where any national or foreign adventurer can act outside the law.”Ecuadorian Government, in a statement to The Guardian
The statement read that Nithyananda had entered Ecuador (Guayaquil) on 5 July 2018 as a tourist and applied for international protection status.
He was given a temporary visa on 19 October 2018 but ‘after careful consideration of his request, the Ecuadorian National Commission in charge ruled out the application of Nithyananda for refugee status,’ said Jaime Marchan Romero, Ambassador of Ecuador in the United Kingdom, in a statement to The Guardian.
His request for protective action was also rejected.
“Nithyananda left Ecuador in August 2019. While leaving Ecuador, he said that his destination would be Haiti.”Ecuadorian Government in a statement to The Guardian
The embassy had earlier given a statement clarifying that all the information "published in digital and print media in India is based on the information which allegedly has been sourced from https://kailaasa.org, a website which is supposedly maintained by Mr Nithyananda or by his people".
It urged digital or print media houses to "refrain from citing Ecuador in any form in all pieces of information related to Mr Nithyananda".
The Ahmedabad and Bengaluru police are on the lookout for the self-styled godman who has been accused of abuse, assault, rape, embezzlement. A blue corner notice application has been moved to locate and obtain information on Nithyananda, the Gujarat police has said.
This comes soon after he launched a website announcing that he has established his own country, ‘Kailaasa.’
In a video, that has been doing the rounds on Twitter since 22 November, Nithyananda can be heard challenging the Indian Judiciary. He is also heard claiming that he is ‘Lord Param Shiva reincarnate’ and can bless his disciples with immortality.