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Thailand sex cult: Foreign tourists claim rape and sexual assault at Koh Phangan yoga retreat
Fourteen female tourists have claimed they were raped and sexually assaulted by a guru at a world renowned yoga retreat located on Koh Phangan.
Agama Yoga lead by Narcis Tarcau, otherwise known as Swami Vivekananda Saraswati, specialises in tantric yoga but a report by the Guardian claims a “sex cult” has been operating inside the center.
Tarcau who is originally from Romania, setup Agama Yoga on Koh Phangan in 2003 after he reportedly had his visa revoked by Indian authorities.
The female victims are understood to be from the UK, US, Brazil, Australia and Canada, while two other men say that the retreat facilitated the “brainwashing” of hundreds of women over a 15 year period into having sex with Tarcau in the name of personal enlightenment and spiritual healing.
Three of the women of say they were raped by Tarcau, while the other say they were sexually assaulted during during private consultations held his office at the retreat.
“It definitely felt like a cult, he put a spell over us and people had completely blind trust in him and his spiritual powers,” one woman told the Guardian.
Reports of the abuse first surfaced in July when some of the victims took to the blogging platform Medium to claim they were sexually assaulted at the retreat.
In response Agama Yoga denied apologised to the victims and denied the school was a “sex cult”.
A statement issued to the Guardian read:
“Agama Yoga is a spiritual university whose core principles are rooted in the authentic yoga tradition. Our teachings follow the principles and teachings of the tantric path. Sexual tantra is a limited part of the authentic tantric tradition and a limited part of our teachings. It is clearly separated from the main curriculum.”
Tarcau is understood to have fled Thailand in July just days after the reports first surfaced on Medium, exiting at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Earlier this week, Thai military and police carried out raids at Agama and official charges have been filed against Tarcau.
Footage posted to Facebook showed a number of police vehicles and officers outside the Agama resort.
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