French police raided a yoga sect on Tuesday.
They arrested 41 sect members, including the “tantra guru”, a Swedish-Romanian man who led the sect and is now suspected of kidnapping, human trafficking and rape.
The tantra guru is the leader of a controversial yoga sect, which has been in trouble with justice in Romania, Sweden and France in recent years.
They practice a yoga that they call “esoteric yoga” with elements of tantra – but according to the French police investigation, there were beatings, rapes and kidnappings.
Several women were held against their will
On Tuesday, French police made a large raid in which 175 police officers participated.
During the operation, 26 women were freed, several of whom are said to have been held against their will in “deplorable” conditions, according to French Le Monde.
Several women have said they fell victim to the organization and its leaders. They were encouraged to accept sexual relations with the group’s leaders, to participate in activities with pornographic elements in France and abroad and to be brainwashed into accepting sexual relations, according to a source in the French judiciary.
The yoga sect came under the scrutiny of the Paris police in July, when several human rights organizations raised the alarm that the sect.
According to Le Monde, the penalty for kidnapping is up to 30 years in France.