A door is creaking open and a terrible stink is creeping out.

Could it be possible that Prem Rawat is a paedophile? That he has been sexually
abusing his own children? Why would anyone make that up?

Although I stopped following Rawat years ago, my first reaction when I was made aware of
these accusations was “This can’t be true.” The idea of abusing a child as
young as three or four is despicable. Committing these crimes on your own
children is even worse. It betrays a trust between a child and a parent that
should be sacred.

“This can’t be true.”

Then I remembered something that happened years ago, when Hansi was about four years
old.

When Rawat and his family came to England, a small classroom was set up at their
house in Reigate, and for a couple of years or so, I was their schoolteacher
whenever they were in Europe. Wadi was the main pupil, and Hansi used to come
and go. He was only four and it was better not to put any pressure on him at
that age. Wadi, who was a couple of years older, loved coming to class, so I
didn’t have any problems.

There was a programme in Miami Beach. I flew over and checked into a hotel. While I
was there, I was invited over to Rawat’s house to see the children. At one
point in the day, Hansi wanted to show me his toys, which were in a small room
off his bedroom.

Shelves covered the walls, which were stocked with expensive models and
playthings. There was enough stuff in there to open a toyshop. We sat on the
carpet and Hansi demonstrated his current favourite toys.

The bedroom door opened and somebody entered. We couldn’t see who it was from the
toy room. Hansi went into the bedroom and left me sitting on the floor playing with
his spaceships. I couldn’t see what was going on next door, but the door was open and I could hear
everything.

It was his father who had entered the room. After a couple  of minutes I heard him saying,

“What’s that? What’s that there? Between your legs. What’s that between your legs?
What’s that there? What’s that between your legs? What is it?” He said it
several times.

When I got back to the hotel I tried to work out what had been happening. But I
couldn’t. There was no way I could put it together. Rawat was the perfect human
being, full of love and compassion. His mysteries were beyond my comprehension.
I stuck the memory of what I heard in the toy cupboard in a drawer in the back
of my mind and left it there.

The years passed. The premie school my wife and I had been part of fell apart. We
left the ashram, had children and gradually readjusted to life outside the
cult.

I discovered one of Rawats mahatmas had been abusing children and helped expose
him. Life went on.

Then recently I became aware of the accusations claiming Rawat was a paedophile who
had been abusing his own children. My reaction was the same as I’m sure most
people’s response was, “This can’t be true.” Then the memory of what happened
in the toy cupboard, all those years ago floated to the surface, like a corpse
freeing itself from the mud at the bottom of a lake after years of being
submerged.

My admiration and respect for Hansi and Shana are immense. As others have said
below, speaking out requires immense courage. But the truth must come out. And
we shouldn’t be afraid of speaking the truth. A child abuser shouldn’t be
allowed to get away with it, even if he is the Lord of the Universe.

Bringing this sordid matter out into the open (and I’m sure there’s more to come) raises
other questions. If the abuse was happening, who else knew about it and why
didn’t they do anything? Was any other abuse happening at the same time? I
heard disturbing stories involving different mahatmas. Maybe this is the beginning of the end for the Satguru.

Can this be true?

Anth Ginn