Readers' Praise
"Aya Ray’s story perfectly captures the twisted, insular, and secretive world in which we all lived."
- Kate Tonnessen, child victim
"Your narrative is very very gripping. Excellent stuff! I like your honesty and truthfulness."
— Sandeep S., USA
"With each new revelation in your book, I get more angry and more determined to do something to cripple this corrupt organization."
— Raj S., India
"This book exposes a world that few have ever seen and that many deny even exists."
— Sheridan Burman
"All I can say is wow … and amazing."
— Suren Pandya
"This perfectly captures the twisted, insular, and secretive world in which we all lived."
— Kate Tonnessen
"It is a great expose of these two ‘holy crooks.’"
— Rahul B.
"It’s so much more than just a story of gurus."
— Jai Hari
"I like your honesty and truthfulness."
— Sandeep S.
"You speak. You die."
That’s just one of the many threats I have received from members of my ex-cult since telling their secrets. Also, my blog was cyber-attacked multiple times — and someone tried to get this book banned from Amazon.
What secrets is my x-cult trying to hide? Could it be the gurus’ secret "sex factory," which lured in scores of women and children over 60 years? What about one of the guru’s convictions on child molestation and his escape from justice? Is it also the mysterious disappearances and deaths of people who knew too much?
I dove deep into the darkness of my x-cult to uncover the dark truth. My efforts included working with U.S. Marshals, supporting cult victims, contributing to an episode of John Walsh’s The Hunt, and writing this book and my second book, Sex God.
My x-cult’s dark secrets and my effort to expose them are all revealed in Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus. Karen (Rishika) went down the rabbit hole to dig up the facts and write this riveting book, which is equal parts memoir, true crime drama, and cautionary tale.
Book Excerpt
PROLOGUE
The Case of the Disappearing Swami — Whereabouts Unknown
MONDAY, 7 MARCH 2011, HAYS COUNTY COURTROOM.
At 9:10 a.m., I noticed that Swami Prakashanand Saraswati (aka Swamiji), my former guru, was not in the courtroom for the sentencing phase of his criminal trial and that there were far fewer of his devotees in the courtroom than usual. On Friday at 5:05 p.m., he had been convicted on 20 counts of child sex abuse.
Though all the seats were filled today, the crowd of his faithful followers was not spilling out into the courthouse hallway as it had during the previous nine days of his trial. Most of the people in the room were chitchatting as we waited, including all the lawyers.
By 9:20 a.m., I began watching the devotees more closely. Some were talking to each other.
Some were sitting quietly. A few were reading. Overall, their demeanor seemed odd, considering that today the fate of their guru would be decided, including the number of years he might spend in a state penitentiary.
At 9:35 a.m., the lawyers on the prosecution team started looking around the courtroom and realized the defendant hadn’t shown up yet.
By 9:40 a.m., it was clear Swamiji was not coming. Cathy, the lead prosecution attorney, walked over to me and said, “It looks like we are missing one swami.”
Hays County officials kicked into high gear, following their procedure for finding a missing convicted felon, including calling all the area hospitals and putting out a warrant for his arrest.
While we were waiting for Judge Charles Ramsay, I called Eric Dexheimer, the journalist covering the case for Austin’s daily newspaper. He was not in the courtroom that day, though he’d been at the trial every other day.
“Hello, this is Eric.”
“Eric, it’s Karen. I noticed you aren’t here today.”
“No, my editor thought two weeks was enough for one story.”
“Oh, because something is happening.”
“What?”
“Swamiji is not here. He didn’t show up this morning, and no one seems to know where he is.”
“Wow, you really know how to bury the lede! What’s going on there?”
“We’re waiting for the judge to arrive and make a decision.”
“Okay. Keep me posted.”
Then I called my main secret “insider” source, who told me there had been a meeting the night before at the home where Swamiji had been staying. All the devotees had gone to his dinner at about 5:00 p.m. I passed this information on to the prosecution. This tidbit became a critical piece in the puzzle of his disappearance, because it provided his last known location.
Many times during the three-year wait for his criminal trial, I had imagined Swamiji not showing up. And now, on the tenth day of his trial, when he was a convicted felon, he was also a fugitive, on the run from justice. Swamiji had nine lawyers on his team. Curiously, none of them or any of his devotees seemed to know his whereabouts. Moreover, no one seemed to care that he was missing. I thought that was strange—and very telling.
Early in the search for Swamiji, the U.S. Marshals had evidence that, after his dinner on Sunday evening, he had crossed the border into Mexico at Nuevo Laredo. He was not alone, nor broke. Several of his devotees accompanied him into Mexico. And then his trail went cold.
