Several students of spiritual teacher Anand Krishna, grouped in Anand Ashram Lovers Community in Bali, reported the teacher’s former students and their lawyer to Bali Police in Denpasar on Friday for defamation.
“We come here to report to the police because of the inconvenience caused by provocative statements by the sex abuse victims and their lawyer,” Anand Ashram caretaker Wayan Sayoga said. At a press conference in Denpasar on Wednesday, the alleged victims of Anand Krishna and their lawyer demanded the closure of the Anand Ashram due to the organisation’s alleged inappropriate practices, including banning students from going to school and sexual abuse, Sayoga said.
The former students, Tara Pradipta Laksmi, Dhanika Pranata, Sumidah, and Leon Firman, have claimed that they were sexually abused by the guru and are being represented by lawyer Agung Mattauch. “I’ve for years been there together with other followers. I know everything there, but I never know what they talked about,” Sayoga said. Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Gde Sugianyar Dwi Putra said the police would follow up the report. “Whatever reports we receive, we will follow them up,” he said.
