Excerpt from My New Book: “Sex God — The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru”

written by  Karen Jonson (Rishika) Published: August 22, 2025 

Chapter 7 — The Shock

In this excerpt from my new book, “Sex God — The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru,” I tell the story about the day I learned that my guru, called Shri Kripalu Maharajii (aka Ram Tripathi), was arrested for rape while he was visiting Trinidad and Tobago as part of his 2007 “World Tour.” The devotees were told to gathered in what was called “Swamiji’s sitting room.” One of the preachers (Prabhakari Devi) gave us a very biased and watered down version of events that lead up to his arrest, as I would later learn. Her parting words to us were, “Don’t go on the internet.” Here’s what I did. 

After the arrest disclosure, I went to my office and sat down at my computer. I typed three words into Google—Kripalu, Trinidad, and maharaji. I sat perfectly still as the world I thought I knew shattered into a million pieces. The search result was filled with news articles from Trinidad and India. The headlines were similar. 

One said, “Visiting 85-year-old Indian Swami Charged with Rape in Trinidad.” 

Another one declared, “Indian Swami in Trinidad Rape Row Gets Bail.”

The word “rape” jumped out like a flashing red light. Prabhakari had clearly said “assault,” which could have meant anything. Rape meant only one thing. I continued reading. I learned that Kripalu had been arrested on May 20. We weren’t told until May 25. Why did they wait five days to tell us? We were dedicated devotees, but the rest of the world knew about this event before we did.

Once again, the powers-that-be were treating us like children, while they were acting like all-knowing, authoritarian parents. I was both in shock and angry.

The news reports revealed the real story that Prabhakari had failed to tell us. A twenty-two-year-old Guyanese girl had gone to see Kripalu at the home of the wealthy family with whom he was staying. She had gone to attend satsang and receive a spiritual benefit from a Hindu guru. She was invited into his bedroom—first with a small group of ladies to press his legs, then later to spend time alone with him.

During her private time with Kripalu, in which she thought she would be given private spiritual guidance, he told her to take off her clothes. He then sprayed her with perfume and told her to put his penis in her mouth. He then pulled her into his bed and penetrated her.

As I was reading this horrific account, I felt like I was suffocating. While the news was shocking, even more revelations were shared in the hundreds of comments from people around the world. Under the cloak of anonymity, many spilled their long-held secrets.

On May 24, someone using the name Satya wrote on Guruphiliac.org:

“You don’t know this guy, it seems. He was already charged with rape a couple of decades ago in India, where the newspaper headlines read Bhakta Bhalaatke (holy rapist). I have the old news clipping. Also, I know a bunch of people who he’s made sexual advances to over the years, which is why I’d like to see him pay for his crimes. 

One woman told me he tried to rape her just last year. How does anyone know how old he actually is? Seen his birth certificate? The guy’s a fraud through and through. He’ll tell any lie to achieve his ends. He fakes language difficulties. He may be faking his aged frailty, too. And ask any woman in India which men you must watch out for with roving hands and eyes, the old or the young?”

The next day Satya added the following comment:

“I have an article from 1991 in Hindi. It has a picture of this Ram Tripathi surrounded by police. I forwarded a copy of the article to journalists covering the court case. Other than that, an American woman I know went to this ‘Jagadguru’ Kripalu’s ashram in India last year, lured there by an Indian woman who is a close devotee of the swami.

After a few days of prepping, she was led into Kripalu’s bedroom, where he grabbed her in inappropriate places. But she was able to struggle free and get out of there. Outside, the disciples told her the swami’s molestation was the pinnacle of his mercy. They tried to make her pay a donation for the privilege! Fifteen years ago, I knew some women who went to Kripalu from the west to become disciples, but he told them they would have to sleep with him.”

I could barely comprehend what I was reading. My mind was overloaded, racing with the startling revelations. The avalanche of new information made me dizzy and disoriented. I was literally in shock.

One of the most shocking bits of news was that his arrest for rape in Trinidad was not Kripalu’s first arrest for rape. He had been arrested in 1991 in India for allegedly raping three underage girls. I realized one curious coincidence. That crime occurred when Prakashanand had stopped talking about Kripalu to his devotees. That was the beginning of a decade of silence about Kripalu.

I stayed awake reading the comments for hours. By three o’clock in the morning, I had read all the news and commentary I could find. I shut off my computer and went to bed. In the past few hours, the world as I knew it had cracked, turned to dust and been blown away in the wind.

What’s more, I had no one to talk to about it, because, according to these two so-called gurus, to speak negatively about them with another devotee is a serious transgression (sin).

Copyright © 2012-2025 Karen Jonson/RishikaXcult. All rights reserved. No part of this blog post may be copied or duplicated without the express permission of the author.