Close X
Monday, December 2, 2024
ADVT 
International

Yoga Ashram Master 'Beat And Groomed Young Girls For Sex' In Australia

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 02 Dec, 2014 02:13 PM
    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia held a public hearing Tuesday to inquire into the Satyananda Yoga Ashram sex abuse cases.
     
    Many such cases were reported from the Satyananda Yoga Ashram located on Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales in the 1970s and 1980s, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
     
    The opening day of the probe into the cases and its former leader Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, heard 11 victims who were abused while living in the ashram in the 1970s and 1980s.
     
    Counsel Peggy Dwyer told the commission that sexual activity was discouraged in the ashram but despite this, its founder Satyananda Saraswati and his disciple Akhandananda molested teenaged girls.
     
    The commission heard that Akhandananda began a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl Shishy after he moved to Australia from India in 1974.
     
    Akhandananda told his victims that "engaging in sexual activity with him was for their own spiritual growth."
     
    Parents were separated from their children when they were sent to set up other ashrams around the country.
     
    Ms Dwyer said evidence from 11 former residents will show a pattern of "sexual grooming by Akhandananda, which began when the children reached or were approaching puberty".
    The grooming was followed by sexual abuse, including oral sex and sexual intercourse, by the time they reached the age of 14 or 15.
     
    Over 25 witnesses are expected to give evidence over a two-week period.
     
    Satyananda Yoga Ashram, which changed its name to Mangrove Yoga Ashram in 2012, and Swami Akhandananda Saraswati were later charged with over 35 sex offences against four teenaged girls.
     
    Akhandananda was found guilty on lesser charges of indecency and was jailed in 1989 but his conviction was overturned six years before his death in 1997.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Shakira Partners With Fisher-price To Release Baby Toys, Launches Web Series For Young Moms

    Shakira Partners With Fisher-price To Release Baby Toys, Launches Web Series For Young Moms
    NEW YORK - Shakira is partnering with Fisher-Price to launch a line of baby toys as well as a Web series for moms.

    Shakira Partners With Fisher-price To Release Baby Toys, Launches Web Series For Young Moms

    Italy's High Court Acquits Fashion Designers Dolce & Gabbana In Tax Evasion Case

    Italy's High Court Acquits Fashion Designers Dolce & Gabbana In Tax Evasion Case
    MILAN - Italy's highest court has acquitted Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion in a highly publicized case that led the Milan designers to close their Milan stores in protest for several days last year.

    Italy's High Court Acquits Fashion Designers Dolce & Gabbana In Tax Evasion Case

    Obama Wishes All Happy Diwali And Saal Mubarak

    Obama Wishes All Happy Diwali And Saal Mubarak
     President Barack Obama has in video message wished a Happy Diwali and "Saal Mubarak" to all those who celebrate the festival of lights saying it was a reminder that light will ultimately prevail.

    Obama Wishes All Happy Diwali And Saal Mubarak

    Dog 'wasn't to blame for anything:' Spanish woman who beat Ebola mourns for her slain pet

    Dog 'wasn't to blame for anything:' Spanish woman who beat Ebola mourns for her slain pet
    MADRID - The husband of the Spanish nursing assistant who beat Ebola says his wife now knows that authorities killed their dog Excalibur while she was in the hospital and is questioning that decision.

    Dog 'wasn't to blame for anything:' Spanish woman who beat Ebola mourns for her slain pet

    Same-sex marriages now allowed and recognized in Wyoming for first time

    Same-sex marriages now allowed and recognized in Wyoming for first time
    Attorneys for the state filed notice Tuesday morning that they would not challenge a federal judge's ruling striking down a Wyoming law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

    Same-sex marriages now allowed and recognized in Wyoming for first time

    Pistorius given 5-year imprisonment for girlfriend's death

    South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius was Tuesday sentenced by a Pretoria court to five years in jail for the culpable homicide death of his...

    Pistorius given 5-year imprisonment for girlfriend's death