“It was seen to be good for children to be exposed to sexuality,” says 54-year-old Prem Sargam, who recounts a horrific childhood in the infamous cult of Osho. Her early life, she says, was like a nightmare into which she was condemned when she was only six years old.
One of them is Sargam, who lives in the UK and tells The Times a tale of her childhood in the “sickening Sannyasin sex cult” presided over by the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, known also as Osho. She explains how she was abused sexually by the adults when she was still a minor in the name of “free love”.
Sargam gave a graphic account of the prolonged severe sexual abuse from age six across three Sannyasin communities, or ‘ashrams. ‘ She stated that the Sannyasin spiritual movement, which was introduced to her by her parents, aimed at creating a notion in children’s minds that they should often see sexual activities and girls who were reaching puberty should be guided by men regarding their sexual experiences.
“It was quite normal for kids to discuss sex and observe adults having intercourse day in and day out,” Sargam told The Times, stating that she was more than exposed to such incidents as a child. “When I was between seven and 11 years old, my friends and I were forced to perform sexual favors on men in their 30s, 40s, and in some cases, their 50s. We even knew it was something wrong then.”
Sargam had been drawn into the fold of Sanyasin Rajneesh. Her father, disillusioned by society, decided to settle in Pune to seek enlightenment. She and her mother followed suit. Sargam’s name was changed, she was dressed in orange robes, and accepted a philosophy which saw children as a nuisance to parental sexual freedom.
By then, she had been sent to the Medina ashram in Suffolk, under the guise of a “boarding school” program, where the abuse continued unabated. At 12 years of age, she moved to the United States to join her mother at an ashram in Oregon, having already suffered rape more than 50 times.
Founded in the 1970s by the Rajneesh cult, which was later renamed the Osho cult, a lot of idealistic Westerners flocked to the group seeking enlightenment.
It’s believed, however, that behind the spiritual mask of the organization lay a dark history of exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
He encouraged unlimited promiscuity from the age of fourteen, permitting partner switching. Therefore, in India, he is known to this day as the “Sex Guru,” because of his unconventional meditation techniques and promotion of sexual liberation.
