AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DECEMBER 02, 2014
CHILDREN at a yoga centre on the NSW Central Coast were sexually abused by gurus they were convinced to think of as “God like” divine beings who were worthy of “utter devotion”, a royal commission has heard.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain, which is part of a wider international movement founded in India by the late Guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
Children at the ashram would be summoned by loudspeaker to the hut of the movement’s leader in Australia, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, where he would sexually abuse them, the commission heard.
Alecia Buchanan told the commission Akhandananda started having sex with her while she was in her early teens, including on at least one occasion while an Australian woman, identified only as Shishy, was present at the time.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.