French Police Detain Yoga Guru On Suspicion Of Rape, Human Trafficking

This week, 41 people, including yoga instructor Gregorian Bivolaru, were detained by French police on suspicion of kidnapping, rape, and human trafficking. According to a judicial source, the accused victims were brainwashed and coerced into having s*x with the 71-year-old Bivolaru after being enticed in with promises of a spiritual awakening.

Tuesday saw the arrests of Bivolaru, who had an outstanding Interpol warrant, and the other individuals during operations in Paris and other parts of France. According to the source, 26 suspected victims were discovered to be living in “deplorable” circumstances.

According to French prosecutors and a website for the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), which Bivolaru started in Romania in 1990, the organization was first known globally as Atman, the International Federation of Yoga and Meditation. A yoga teacher is detained by French police on charges of rape, people trafficking, and kidnapping.

According to CNN, when MISA was contacted for comment, the organization denied any wrongdoing and asserted that Bivolaru had neither formed Atman nor taught yoga since 1995. The arrests were described as “a slanderous witch-hunt against genuine spirituality” in a news release that was uploaded on Atman’s website and ascribed to the board of Atman Federation. The release said, “Atman Federation is not accountable or responsible for the private lives of the teachers and students of the member schools.”

Within the Atman network, the French school at the center of the raids is described as an “independent entity, with its management and organization,” according to a news release credited to the MISA Yoga School and posted on Atman’s website. When CNN contacted a lawyer from the firm that represents Bivolaru on Friday, the attorney declined to comment.

According to AFP, Bivolaru and other parties appeared in court on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the situation. Bivolaru claimed to be “the victim of a political plot,” a source told AFP. In July 2022, reports from former members of the Human Rights League, a French non-governmental organization (NGO), were given to a government institution that keeps tabs on and examines cult activities in France.

According to the judicial source, the Central Office for Repression of Violence Against People (OCRVP), a French government organization tasked with looking into claims of sects to see whether any crimes have been committed, received the case from the Paris public prosecutor’s office the next month.

“Many women of different nationalities claimed to have been victims of the activities of the MISA organization and its leader Gregorian B,” according to a legal source. The legal source went on to say that the school would entice victims with the promise of tantra yoga, a style of yoga with Hindu roots that emphasizes sensuality as a means of spiritual discovery.

Then, according to the judicial source, the accused victims said they would be psychologically coerced into agreeing to “sexual relations designed to suppress any notion of consent regarding sexual relations.” The judicial source claimed that the accused victims were informed that their assent was a manifestation of their ego, which was keeping them from realizing their true potential as spiritual beings.

According to the court source, victims stated they were urged to “accept sexual relations with the group’s leader, and/or to subscribe to pornographic practices for a fee in France and abroad.” In July 2023, a court investigation was set up to look into claims of human trafficking, rape, kidnapping, and mistreatment of vulnerable people by members of a certain sect.

It resulted in the arrest of Bivolaru and other people during the massive operation that was started on Tuesday and involved 175 French police officers from Paris and various other places. According to the court source, 26 accused victims were discovered to be living in close quarters with poor hygiene.