"Even in my seven-year-old mind, I thought what a strange thing to be doing," a 54-year-old Prem Sargam said as he recounted her harrowing childhood at spiritual guru Osho’s ashrams. In a recent interview with The Times, Sargam narrated how children at the ashram were exposed to sexual acts at a very young age.
Sargam accompanied her mother and joined Osho’s ashram in Pune at the age of six. They were reportedly inspired by the change life at the ashram had brought to her father, who had abandoned them to join the ashram in Pune. Sargam said she was forced to change her name, wear orange robes and adopt a philosophy that viewed children as obstacles to parental sexual freedom, NDTV reported.
"It was considered normal for children to talk about sex and watch adults engaging in sexual activities regularly," Sargam told The Times. Sargam said she was exposed to sexual acts at a very young age, when she was six years old, and Sargam and her friends were coerced into performing sexual acts with grown men. "Between the age of seven and 11, I and my friends were coerced into performing sexual acts on grown men living in the commune. We knew something wrong was going on even then," Sargam added.
Sargam said she had been part of three Sanyasin communities or ashrams during her time with the cult and she was even sent alone to an ashram in Suffolk under the pretext of “boarding school”. Sargam said she by the time she had turned 12, she had endured rape over 50 times.
"The other message of sannyasin teaching, both unlawful and shattering, was quickly assimilated by those joining the cult. This philosophy normalised paedophilia within the cult," NDTV quoted Sargam as saying.
Osho alias Rajneesh, the controversial spiritual guru from India was also known as ‘Sex Guru’ for emphasising sexual freedom.