Yoga guru's 'handmaiden' gives disturbing abuse testimony

The "handmaiden" of a sexually abusive yoga master had sex with a 14-year-old boy only because her guru ordered her to, an inquiry has heard.

Shishy fronts Commission over child abuse at yoga retreat

Undated image of Shishy (centre), the partner of Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, at a retreat, now known as the Mangrove Yoga Ashram.

The woman, known as Shishy, was the handmaiden, sexual partner and second-in-charge of Swami Akhandananda at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram on NSW's Central Coast during the 1970s and 1980s.

Shishy told the child abuse royal commission on Friday that starting a sexual relationship with the boy, codenamed APQ, when she was 25 was "the most shameful thing in my life".

She said she was instructed by Akhandananda to start initiating the boy the same way the guru had been having sex with under-age girls on the ashram.

"It's one of the things I really resent Akhandananda for," Shishy said.

However, the commission heard Shishy continued a sexual relationship with the boy after she left the ashram in 1985.

The pair later had a child together and the boy lived in her house.

Under questioning, Shishy, now in her 50s, said she did not want to start the relationship with APQ and did so only on Akhandananda's orders.

But in 1989, after doing a "mind mash program", she realised she was in love with him.

The commission heard Shishy gave evidence in court against Akhandananda on child abuse charges, but didn't tell detectives about her relationship with APQ.

Early in the day's proceedings, Shishy broke down as she told the commission she was sorry for her actions at the ashram.

Witnesses who were children at the Mangrove Mountain ashram have testified that Shishy beat them.

Shishy also admitted she was present when Akhandananda had sex with two underaged girls at the yoga centre, but said she didn't fully appreciate his actions were wrong at the time.

She said she couldn't recall an event one witness told of, where she allegedly lined children up from youngest to oldest and slapped them.

She also said she couldn't recall other alleged abuses.  

However, she accepted she slapped children "very hard" and her physical discipline became more extreme as the children grew into teenagers.

The yoga devotee, who produces chanting CDs, said she had no power at the ashram, despite accepting she was the second-in-charge.

 She broke down as she said she accepted she had caused significant trauma to children who worshipped her.

"I deeply, deeply regret and feel quite desperately sorry for anything that I did or that I didn't do," she said.

The commission heard Akhandananda began a sexual relationship with Shishy at an ashram in Bondi in 1974, when she was 16.

He told her she was "a very advanced being" and "a chosen one" and she believed him, she said.

The relationship became progressively more violent and Akhandananda's acts more sexually perverse, she said.

Akhandananda was jailed in 1989 for indecent dealings with four girls, but was released when the High Court overturned the conviction in 1991. He died six years later.

The hearing continues on Monday.




Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Yoga guru's 'handmaiden' gives disturbing abuse testimony | SBS News