A public hearing is currently being carried out by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse to inquire into allegations of child sex abuse by the former spiritual leader of Satyananda Yoga Ashram located in Mangrove Mountain.
It is alleged the abuse took place in the 1970s and 80s by former leader Swami Akhandananda Saraswati. The hearing is also inquiring into allegations of sexual abuse by the organisation’s founder and spiritual head, Guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati, and how he and his spiritual successor, Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, also known as Niranjan, dealt with the allegations. The ashram at Mangrove Mountain was founded in 1974, the fi rst of its kind in Australia, and was overseen by Swami Akhandananda Saraswati. Followers were taught to practice abstinence, chastity and austerity and the aim of the ashram was to provide relief of poverty, sickness, suffering, destitution, helplessness and misfortune. The Commission has so far heard from a handful of the 11 former child residents who claimed they had been sexually and physically abused at the retreat. Alecia Buchanan, who moved to the ashram when she was 13, spoke about being physically abused by Shishy, who was known as Akhandananda’s sexual partner, and sexually abused by Akhandananda himself. “I remember on more than one occasion Shishy would just sweep into the room where we were doing our schoolwork or approach us outside and whack one of the children with the full force of her open hand. “I remember a number of occasions when she smacked me directly across the face and I experienced temporary dizziness and inability to see,” said Alecia. “I remember the fi rst time he (Akhandananda) ever touched me in a sexual way. “He called me into his hut. “We were alone, and he put his hand under my shirt and touched my breasts,” said Alecia. The Commission also heard from a former resident known as Jyoti who said she was subjected to sexual abuse in 1982 aged 16. Jyoti explained how Akhandananda forced her to perform sexual acts and proceeded to have penetrative sex with her. “I think I blanked out mentally at this stage because it was so painful,” said Jyoti. “I had never had intercourse before. “I felt so terrible, like I was a slave and like I was a piece of meat,” said Jyoti. Former resident, known only as APL, explained how she was regularly forced to have sex with Akhandananda while Shishy was in the room. “It was in winter when he took me away on a yoga trip around NSW,” said APL. “Before the assault, he had made me stay in his room at each location on this trip and would make me get into bed with him and invade me with his hands and tell me I have to let him have sex with me, but I didn’t want to.” APL’s younger sister, identifi ed as APK, lived at the ashram from 1978 to 1986 and was also sexually abused by Akhandananda. On one occasion she accompanied him on a trip to Canberra where he abused her but when she refused to have intercourse with him she was sent home. “I was genuinely horrifi ed at the idea of Akhandananda touching me,” said APK. “I think this must have come across quite strongly because, as I understand it, I was one of the only young girls at the ashram who managed to resist him. “The next day he was obviously angry and disgusted with me, because the trip for me was cut short and I was put on a train back to Sydney with the other young girl,” she said. APK also spoke about how Shishy would invite her and APL to have sleepovers with her. “Many of those sleepovers were a lot of fun, but sometimes during the sleepovers Shishy would practice love bites on us, teaching us how to give and receive them. “It was a bit strange and I wasn’t really that interested in it, but I didn’t question it,” said APK. She also spoke about being subjected to physical abuse. “I was beaten numerous times, quite violently, and mostly by Shishy. “I remember on one occasion being beaten so hard I was unable to control my bladder and urinated all over myself,” said APK. A number of other victims also gave evidence, including APA who said she had been sexually abused by Akhandananda when she was 13 and 14; APH who said Akhandananda began grooming her when she was nine and sexually abused her when she was 13; and APR who said her sexual abuse by Akhandananda began when she was three and she and other children were given illegal drugs. “Adults would give us Munjan, which was a paste we rubbed on our gums that gave us a high,” said APR. “It was a hallucinogenic and illegal, but certain swamis had connections bringing it in from India. “The adults used to egg us on to take bigger and bigger hits of it until we passed out on the fl oor of the bathroom stalls, and no one ever stopped this,” she said. She spoke of abuse, not only by Akhandananda but also by others at the ashram. “The older boys at the ashram used to zip our sleeping bags together and put me into one of the bags with an older boy while the others sat on one end so I couldn’t get out,” said APR. “The boys took turns in the sleeping bag with me, and performed various sex acts with me. “This happened many times from when I was around fi ve or six,” said APR. Bhakti Manning spoke about Akhandananda’s sexual abuse toward her and said: “He had been quite expert at arousing me sexually, but at the same time my mind was telling me that what had happened was wrong.” Bhakti’s statement also detailed the effects of the abuse by a visiting swami from India, her sexual relations with Satyananda in India until 1982 and Swami Niranjan in 1983 until she returned to Australia. “I don’t recall in my life having sexual attraction to anyone,” said Bhakti. “I never developed a sexual identity. “At this point in my life, I don’t know that I ever will,” she said. Fellow former resident Tim Clark gave evidence about how he was violently beaten and experienced sexual behaviour from some of the female swamis, including Shishy. “I was going through puberty and having regular sex with girls from the ashram, including APK,” said Tim. “I also had sex on a number of other occasions with older women who were visiting the ashram or were residents. “The fi rst of those incidents really comes to mind. “I was so young, I couldn’t ejaculate,” said Tim. The commission heard from Shishy who gave evidence about the sexual and physical abuse she was subjected to prior to arriving at the ashram, her relationship with Akhandananda and the physical abuse by him. “I felt, on the one hand, like it was a great honour to be in a relationship with this elevated being,” said Shishy. “On the other hand, I felt quite a lot of anguish about the control that I was experiencing coming from him. Shishy said her initial consensual relationship with Akhandananda deteriorated over time when he began to show interest in some of the younger girls. “I suppose what started off as just little rumblings of confl ict within myself gradually evolved into something that meant that I didn’t always do what I was told by him, and that had really serious sexual and physical consequences,” she said. She also expressed her sorrow at the pain she may have played a part in causing to the many people affected by the way of life at the ashram. “I would like to say that I deeply, deeply regret and feel quite desperately sorry for anything that I did or that I didn’t do that has caused any of these people and their families any pain whatsoever and any ongoing impact from me being in their lives at that time,” said Shishy. “I understand that that’s never going to be enough, but it is deeply meant. “I am deeply sorry. “In my wildest dreams, I just wish that I could be back there and have done so many things differently,” said Shishy. The hearing continues.
Transcripts, 2-8 Dec 2014
Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to
Child Sex Abuse