26 Feb 2015
Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury faces string of sexual assault lawsuits
BY Helen Andrews
The yoga entrepreneur Bikram Choudhury, the creator of the hot yoga training programme that bears his name, is facing six civil lawsuits from women accusing him of rape or assault – the first of which was filed two years ago and the latest on 13 February, 2015.
Bikram studio franchises across the world have already dropped the Bikram brand from their names in response to the lawsuits. The 69-year-old denies the allegations and has never been criminally charged despite alleged assaults stretching back a decade, according to the New York Times.
Bikram yoga classes last 90 minutes in a room heated to 40°C (104°F) and consist of 26 yoga poses taught by Choudhury and his mentees at independently-operated studios from Buenos Aires to Shanghai. Teacher training sessions with Choudhury that last nine weeks cost US$12,500 (€11,157, £8,134) per pupil. Students’ diet, wardrobe, speech and facial expressions are allegedly supervised and constrained during training with Choudhury – who in some circles is considered to be a spiritual leader.
Canadian former Bikram yoga instructor Jill Lawler claims that during a teaching course, she massaged Choudhury “for hours” during mandatory Bollywood movie viewings that often last “until 3am”. This practice was carried out by a number of his devotees at a time, however Lawler claims Choudhury began to grope her inappropriately during one such massage in 2010. He reportedly apologised later and vowed to “make her a champion”. Several weeks later, the lawsuit alleges, he raped her in his hotel room.
Having invested in the training course, Lawler felt obliged to continue – despite wanting to leave. She claims the assaults continued until 2013, when another former student Sarah Baughn filed the first of the six lawsuits – claiming the yoga leader had made sexual advances during her training and then assaulted her in a hotel room and later at his home.
Choudhury’s lawyers strongly denied all allegations against him in a statement: “Their claims are false and dishonour Bikram yoga and the health and spiritual benefits it has brought to the lives of millions of practitioners throughout the world. After a thorough investigation, the Los Angeles County district attorney declined to file any sexual assault charges against Mr Choudhury or the college for lack of evidence.”
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