His Divine Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda was appointed as the mathadhipati (spiritual and legal head) by the previous pontiff Swami Atmananda for the Sri Somanatha Swami Temple & Aadheenam, Thiruvarur. To help with the maintenance and rituals in the mutt, Paramahamsa Nithyananda sent a group of young female brahmacharinis to Thiruvarur.
On arriving there, they were shocked to see what was happening there. They found out that some local gundas were sitting inside the temple properties illegally. Those gundas were ready to assault anybody walking near. Our young brahmacharinis were made to wait outside the temple the whole day in the scorching sun. When the situation continued to be unfavorable, the senior swamis decided to send the brahmacharinis back to Bengaluru Aadheenam, so they need not face any adversities.
Being weary from standing in the sun, the whole day, the brahmacharinis boarded a bus to get back to Bengaluru Aadheenam. While in the bus, 3 gundas entered the bus, 2 from the back entrance and one from the front. Those men were masked. Our brahmacharinis were too tired to even notice the men. All of a sudden, the 3 gundas approached the bramacharinis and started assaulting them.
Ma Abheda
I was sitting on the bus, waiting for the bus to move. Suddenly a few men entered the bus. The men seemed to know who their target was. One masked man advanced straight to me. He stretched his hand towards me. Instinctively I caught hold of his hand and tried to push it away. He was stronger than me. He just caught hold and pulled my mala and saree. Mala broke and saree came off. (pause). There were few others who were on the bus looking at us, including men. I was hoping someone will come to push this man away from me. Tanmaya ma tried to pull him back and so he started attacking her. When the men were attacking both of us, everyone else on the bus was just watching. Nobody came forward to help.
Ma Tanmaya
I didn’t realize anything till I saw Abheda ma, who was sitting next to me screaming. A man was pulling her saree. I tried to help her by diverting the guy. But then his attention fell on me. He started hitting me hard on my head multiple times. It was all over before I could even register what was happening. From the movement of the guys, it was very clear it was all planned.
Ma Arunesha
We were on the bus. Suddenly one man charged at me from the front. One little girl was sitting beside me. He pushed the girl aside. Then he pulled the seat off. He hit me on my head with the seat. It was very painful. I had a severe injury on my head later. I was screaming. But nobody came to help. Everyone on the bus was looking at me with a shocked look. But nobody stopped the guy.