Godman Rajneesh was a philosophy lecturer earlier than founding his religious motion in Pune.
A 54-year-old girl has shared her harrowing expertise of being raised in Indian godman Rajneesh’s infamous intercourse cult. Prem Sargam, in an interview with The Times, detailed the rampant sexual abuse she endured from the age of six throughout three Sannyasin communities.
Ms Sargam’s nightmare started at six years previous when her father deserted their dwelling within the UK to affix the cult’s ashram in Pune. He sought religious enlightenment as a sannyasin, leaving Ms Sargam and her mom behind. Ms Sargam was quickly drawn into the cult, pressured to vary her identify, put on orange robes and undertake a philosophy that considered youngsters as obstacles to parental sexual freedom.
“The opposite message of sannyasin educating, each illegal and shattering, was rapidly assimilated by these becoming a member of the cult,” Ms Sargam recalled. This philosophy normalised paedophilia inside the cult.
Happy to announce the discharge of my new characteristic doc ‘Youngsters of the Cult’, which might be screened in cinemas within the UK and broadcast on ITV Publicity on 13 October 2024. For extra info please see: https://t.co/TPcSRCYlVnpic.twitter.com/WPn4nM4AP5
— Maroesja Perizonius (@1paarhanden) September 11, 2024
Prem Sargam’s abuse started at seven years previous and escalated to rape at 12. She vividly recalled the confusion and unease she felt as a toddler inside the cult. “Even in my seven-year-old thoughts, I assumed what a wierd factor to be doing,” she mirrored.
Between 7 and 11, she and her associates had been coerced into performing sexual acts on grown males dwelling within the commune.
The abuse did not cease there. Ms Sargam was later despatched to the Medina ashram in Suffolk, alone and weak, beneath the guise of attending a “boarding faculty” program. Nonetheless, the exploitation continued. By the point she was 12, Ms Sargam had been relocated to the US, becoming a member of her mom at an ashram in Oregon.
“It was solely at 16 that I understood what had occurred”, she mentioned.
Rajneesh’s motion believed youngsters needs to be uncovered to sexuality, and ladies going by puberty needs to be guided by grownup males. Ms Sargam remembers, “It was thought of good for the youngsters to be uncovered to sexuality.”
The Rajneesh cult, based within the Nineteen Seventies, attracted Western followers searching for religious enlightenment. Nonetheless, beneath its tranquil floor, the organisation harboured a darkish secret – the exploitation and abuse of youngsters.
Rajneesh, later often called Osho, was a philosophy lecturer earlier than founding his religious motion in Pune. He advocated for unrestricted promiscuity, together with partner-swapping, from age 14. Rajneesh’s unorthodox meditation strategies and emphasis on sexual freedom earned him the nickname “Intercourse Guru” in India. Within the US, he was dubbed the “Rolls-Royce Guru” as a result of his assortment of 93 luxurious vehicles.
Regardless of a whole lot of youngsters being abused, little has been documented till now. A single investigation by US little one safety providers into the Oregon cult was performed, and Netflix’s 2018 documentary Wild Wild Nation omitted the youngsters’s experiences.
The upcoming documentary Youngsters of the Cult tells Prem Sargam’s story, together with two different British ladies who escaped the cult. “I need the world to know what occurred to me and numerous others,” Ms Sargam mentioned. “We had been harmless youngsters, exploited and abused within the identify of religious enlightenment.”
The cult’s try to construct a utopian metropolis in Oregon led to its downfall. Osho’s private secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, was arrested and sentenced to twenty years in jail for crimes together with mass meals poisoning and tried homicide. At this time, small numbers of Rajneesh devotees nonetheless stay worldwide.