Sai Baba Exposed
Fraud, Fakery, & Molestation (transcribed from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7, Number 5, August-September 2000) A SHORT HISTORY OF SATHYA SAI BABA Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born in South India, in the tiny village of Puttaparti, on 23 November 1926. His given name was Satyanarayana and his family name was Raju. On 20 October 1940, at the age of fourteen, he declared to his family and to the people of his village that he was the reincarnation of an Indian saint who had died in 1918, named Shirdi Sai Baba, and that he would henceforth be known as Sai Baba. Sai Baba's ashram, built by his devotees close to the village where he was born, was inaugurated on 23 November 1950. It is called Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of Divine Peace). It has been the gathering place of millions of spiritual pilgrims of various faiths from all over the world. During the period 14-23 November 1995, the celebrations for the 70th birthday of Sathya Sai Baba took place in Prasanthi Nilayam. More than one million people, including the President and Prime Minister of India, assembled in Prasanthi Nilayam to pay homage to Sathya Sai Baba during these celebrations. Today, the Sai Organization claims over 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba centres, spread through 137 countries around the world. It is fair to say that Sai Baba is a highly revered spiritual leader, whose life and message has inspired millions of people throughout the world to turn Godward and lead more purposeful and moral lives. The stories of his "miracles" are many and legendary in their telling and retelling. Scores of famous Westerners have added their own exciting synchronistic accounts of how Sai Baba saved them from certain death by "appearing" before them at crucial moments. Accounts of Sai baba-related manifestations and materialisations are also widespread, adding to the air that Sai Baba is literally the reappearance of God on Earth. Unfortunately, this is where the fairytale ends. A growing number of boys and men are coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse and rape. And now that attention has been focused on the Swami, one finds many more accounts of faked miracles, suspicious deaths, massive financial fraud, weapons and explosives being found in the ashram, an assassination attempt, and yet more cases of paedophilia and homosexual abuse. With news of these events and other incidents, the seeds of doubt have been sown in many minds. How is it that Sai Baba's own brother-in-law died of rabies? Why did Baba need to be hospitalised for a ruptured appendix and a broken leg? Why does he travel in Mercedes cars and require heavy protection? Why does Sai Baba have to wave his hand in circles before producing anything? Does his occasional transvestitism and derision for women really illustrate the male-female principle of the universe? It is possible we will never find the real truth to many of the above rumours and allegations, with the exception of the sexual abuse cases. We have extracted the following accounts from just three of the many testimonies now emerging. We have also spoken to many former long-term devotees who have now left the organisation. For those wishing to pursue this matter further, we suggest as a starting point that you get onto the Internet and visit http://www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/ [that site has been closed and replaced by http://www.sathyasaivictims.com].
Let me emphasize that this information does not reflect one or two disgruntled devotees "who did not get enough attention". It reflects the fact that many, many boys and young men have been sexually abused by someone in whom they gave their total trust. Their silence was maintained because the victims knew that no one would believe them.
I hope this article can rectify that situation somewhat.
Duncan M. Roads (Editor)
Jens & Gurprit's Sethi's testimony