Although after “sex for nine hours”

Last November, the Swedish-Romanian yoga guru Gregorian Bivolaru was arrested by French police, charged with rape, human trafficking and kidnapping.

Bivolaru founded the network MISA (Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute), better known under the name Atman, in Romania in 1990.

Atman denied the allegations in a press release.

– This is part of an ongoing witch hunt, and this fabricated campaign should appear as a red flag to anyone who cares about spiritual and religious freedom, the press release states.

In a separate press release, Atman refuted the accusations against Bivolaru as “a coordinated attack”.

Nude pictures

New alleged details about the case are now coming to light in the German podcast “Toxic Tantra”. This is written by the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten.

Among other things, two women claim to have been subjected to a “tantric initiation ceremony” in connection with admission to the sect.

In that connection, they are said to have been transported to an apartment in Paris, where they were allegedly asked to hand over their phone, wallet and passport.

Awaiting an audience with the guru, they were reportedly asked to send him nude photos so he could “read their aura”.

They are also said to have been shown erotic films for several hours at a time, writes the Swiss newspaper.

When they finally received an invitation from Bivolaru, they were reportedly blindfolded and taken to a dark room where they had to stay for nine days.

– Sex for nine hours

Then they are said to have been called in to Bivolaru, and instructed that they had to have sex with him in order to achieve spiritual growth.

A woman who is referred to only as Nathalie claims in the podcast that the session lasted for “nine or ten hours”, writes 20 Minuten. The 70-year-old guru is said to have occasionally taken breaks to sleep.

The women are said to have then been asked to sign documents stating that they had consented to what had happened.

– It was only afterwards that I realized that I had been manipulated, says one of the women, according to the Swiss newspaper.

Previously convicted

According to the Swedish Expressen, Bivolaru – also known by the name Magnus Aurolsson – grew up in Romania where he founded MISA.

In recent times, the yoga movement has gone under the name Atman, and has had tantric yoga as its focus.

In 2013, Bivolaru was convicted in absentia to six years in prison in Romania for rape of a minor, according to CNN. Three years later he was extradited from France.

However, he only served one month and three years before fleeing the country under early parole.