AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DECEMBER 09, 2014
Dan Box
Crime Reporter
Sydney
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.
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