Ashram devotee ‘not sure’ if child sex abuse happened

By Dan Box
Australian
December 9, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/ashram-devotee-not-sure-if-child-sex-abuse-happened/story-fngburq5-1227149853651

A CURRENT devotee of a yoga ashram north of Sydney says she is not convinced that child sex abuse took place there during the 1970s and 1980s, and “the alleged victims are being venal” if their claims are false.

The woman, identified as Muktimurti, said in her statement to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that she finds it “morally questionable” for the victims to now seek financial compensation.

“I don’t agree with the ashram being held to ransom for something that none of us in the ashram community have anything to do with,” her statement said.

Eleven witnesses have given evidence to the commission describing the physical and sexual abuse of children at the Mangrove Mountain ashram.

At least three child victims have told the commission that Muktimurti, an Australian woman who has lived there since 1978, would be used to summon them to the bedroom of their guru, Akhandananda, who would then sexually abuse them.

Muktimurti, who worked as an assistant to Akhandananda’s second-in-command, told the commission she took no interest in his 1989 criminal trial as she did not believe the allegations against him. Akhandananda was found guilty of acts of indecency against a child, although his conviction was later overturned on a legal technicality.

Giving evidence this morning, Muktimurti said she has been deeply upset by the publicity surrounding the commission hearing and that she still does not know “who did what to who”.

“One of the reasons I find the royal commission hearing distressing is that if the acts are true, that is a dreadful thing but if they are not, then the alleged victims are being venal,” she said.

Asked what she meant, Muktimurti replied saying “I think venal means hurting others and wanting something at the expense of others. Look, I can’t make any assumptions of the motivations of other people.”

Asked if she was aware that the ashram has acknowledged the abuse and apologised for it, although it has not paid any of the victims compensation, Muktimurti said “Yes ... all I know is that my own experience of living in the ashram has nothing to do with this.”

In her statement to the commission, Muktimurti said she was “unsure as to the outcome of (Akhandananda’s) trial as I never attended and never took any interest in the details of proceedings.”

Counsel assisting the commission, Hayley Bennett asked her “The allegations were made in relation to young female children whose home was the ashram that you were a part of and that was your home also. Did that worry you?”

“I didn’t believe them, you see,” Muktimurti replied. She “categorically” denied knowingly fetching children for Akhandananda to abuse, although she said it was her job “to take messages”.