AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Nicole Chettle
When allegations of child abuse emerged at Australia’s oldest yoga ashram, the main concern from its spiritual headquarters in India was protecting its reputation, a royal commission has found.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has examined the handling of complaints made against the former spiritual leader of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram, at Mangrove Mountain on the New South Wales Central Coast, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, and his former partner Shishy.
The allegations were made over a period of 40 years and related to sexual abuse that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s.
During public hearings in October 2014, six survivors each called for a $1 million compensation payment.
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