My first response was similar, surely not!
Yet we've known for years that Rawat is a liar, a fraud, a con and a bully. A lifetime of inappropriate behaviour. So why were we reluctant to accept even more inappropriate behaviour?
Perhaps we were still giving him some benefit of the doubt? Many of us spent the best of our youth under his influence, and some of us had, at least occasionally, some very happy times. And he often seemed at least more benign than other famous cult leaders.
He's a lying manipulative cult leader, but he's OUR cult leader...
