Lawyers of sex scandal-hit spiritualist seek police legal advice

Lawyers for spiritualist guru Anand Krishna sought legal advice from the National Police here Thursday following reports that he had allegedly sexually molested his female students.

His lawyers met with National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi to discuss how Anand should handle civil legal actions that some of his disciples have threatened to take out against him.

Two of his disciples, Tara Pradipta Laksmi and Sumidah, have filed complaints with the police over

allegations of sexual harassment by Anand, claiming they were still under the age of sexual consent at the time of the incidents.

Theresia Purba, one of Tara’s lawyers, said recently that more victims would make allegations and lodge complaints next week.

“The victims were kissed and hugged without their consent. Psychiatrists are still assessing the psychological damage they [the victims] suffered from the harassment,” she said, as quoted by detik.com.

Darwin Aritonang, one of Anand’s lawyers, however, said he did not understand Tara and Sumidah’s claim that they were subject to harassment when they were under the age of consent.

“We all know Anand Krishna they became Anand’s students when they were already 19 years old,” he said.

He added that the women should have talked the matter over with Anand in the first place instead of filing complaints with the police and should have discussed if what he did, if it was true, was a form of sexual harassment.

“After they reported the matter to the police and [it was] reported in the media, our client feels that he is already on trial by the press,” Darwin said.

After meeting with the lawyers, Ito told journalists he suggested that Anand has the right to file a counter-complaint with the Police against the plaintiffs if he is sure he is innocent.

“If he [Anand] can prove that the plaintiffs made things up, he can sue them on defamation charges,” he told The Jakarta Post.

But lawyer Darwin said he had no plan yet to file such counter-complaints and was still focused on settling the dispute amicably.

“Our client is a spiritual guru and these women are his former disciples.

“He wants amicable solutions instead of reporting them to the police, well, at least not now” he said.

Anand is a well-known spiritualist who runs two schools (ashrams) in Jakarta and Bali.

He has denied harassment claims. He is also a prolific book writer and columnist.