Swami Nithyananda and Ranjitha
Swami Nithyananda and RanjithaCollage of photos taken from Facebook and Twitter

Self-styled Godman Swami Nithyananda and actress Ranjitha are in dock again after the forensic department confirmed both are present in the scandalous sex video tape that had created a lot of buzz in 2010.

Seven years ago, the video featuring Swami Nithyananda and Ranjitha surfaced on the internet and went viral on social media. The controversial footage showing the two in a compromising position was also aired by several television channels. The incident led to public outrage in Bangalore with some vandalising the swami's ashram in Bididi.

Soon after the video got leaked, Swami Nithyananda was absconding and five days later he appeared before the judicial magistrate court. The Ramanagara police arrested Nithyananda as soon as he came out of the court premises. He spent 53 days in jail before he was released on bail.

Both Swami Nithyananda and actress Ranjitha had vehemently denied that they were part of the video. "The video is fabricated. I am not the person in it. In fact, at that time, I was in a room that I was sharing with another female devotee in the Dhyanapeetham ashram. I blame myself for this. It has affected my career though some people still have faith in me," the actress had said at a press conference.

Later, Ranjitha had also filed a case in a Bengaluru court, which ordered a CID investigation into the tape. The Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) in Bengaluru had confirmed that the tape featured the two. Swami Nithyananda had refuted the claims made by the FSL in 2012.

The self-claimed godman had claimed that US-based experts had analysed the video and concluded that it was "fake" and "morphed". He had submitted copies of the claimed US research reports to the CID, which was investigating the case.