Paris, December 8: On December 3, Gregorian Bivolaru, a 71-year-old Romanian Yoga Guru, was detained by French authorities with 41 other people on grave accusations of kidnapping, rape, and human trafficking. Bivolaru, the founder of the International Federation of Yoga and Meditation (Atman), formerly known as the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), was charged with taking advantage of his followers by passing off his teachings as enlightenment.

Modus Operandi

When Agnes Arabela Marques met the head of a contentious yoga sect that was allegedly operating a global tantric sex ring that exploited women as slaves, she was just 15 years old. "At first he seemed nice," Arabela Marques said of  Bivolaru. In a video conversation with AFP, she said, "He was very respected, speaking with a very calm voice." Satanic Sex Ring Busted in Glasgow: 7 Men, 4 Women Arrested for Raping Children, Forcing Them to Participate in Witchcraft.

In 1999, Arabela Marques—a dual citizen of Romania and Portugal—had accompanied her elder sister from a tiny Romanian hamlet to Bucharest, the country's capital, to enrol in Bivolaru's Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) yoga school. She accepted Bivolaru's invitation to his house, where she was forced to engage in lesbian activities with twelve other women and, later, to engage in sexual relations with the almost-50-year-old Bivolaru, all of which were portrayed as a part of her initiation into tantric yoga.

A year later, at the age of sixteen, Arabela Marques was among some 300 women who paraded nude during a Black Sea "Miss Shakti" beauty contest; some of them even engaged in public sex acts in front of thousands of spectators. Reportedly, indoctrination and manipulation into non-consensual sexual interactions were used to entice victims, who were promised 'spiritual enlightenment'. Vietnam: Police Busts Air Hostess Sex Ring That Had Cabin Crew Bedding Clients in Luxury Hotels.

How French Authorities Arrested Gregorian Bivolaru

The operation, which comprised 175 police officers from Paris and other locations, also turned up 26 people who were thought to be victims of the group and were living in filthy circumstances. After a year-long investigation that was sparked by accusations from former members, this arrest came with preliminary charges that included abuse of vulnerability and human trafficking in an organised band. Bivolaru, who had already escaped Romania on conditional release, is also wanted by Interpol for sexual assault and aggravating human trafficking at the request of Finland.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 08, 2023 10:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).