Sunday, Feb 23, 2014
Thiruvananthapuram: The founder of the Amritanandamayi Mutt at Vallikavu in Kerala’s Kollam district has denied allegations in a book by an Australian woman, who had been her personal attendant for two decades.
The book, Holy Hell: A Memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness is trending on social media. Its author, Gail Tredwell who admits that she was “naive” to have joined the, Mata Amritanandamayi’s ashram and endured what she did, alleges that she had been sexually abused multiple times.
Amritanandamayi, known as the Hugging Saint, denied the allegations stating that people were resorting to criticism against the ashram “when their own plans did not materialise”.
Her rejoinder comes in the wake of the Congress and the Communist Party of India Marxist leaders joining the issue following allegations made in the book by Tredwell.
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the allegations were “serious”, and deserved serious attention by the government since they came from someone who had been in the ashram for a long time. Vijayan said the government ought to look into the large amounts of funding and the activities happening in ashrams.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said “one should not forget the various services that the ashram has rendered”. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran also adopted a cautious stand regarding the allegations, without making any serious comment on the matter.
Police in Karunagapally in Kollam district are following up on complaints by the ashram authorities against those who were allegedly defaming Amritanandamayi and the ashram through social media. The Democratic Youth Federation of India criticised the police action saying that it was treading on the democratic right to opinion.
By Akhel Mathew ?Correspondent
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
