LOS ANGELES (CN) - Millionaire yoga guru Bikram Choudhury raped two students, and his acolytes recruit women for him knowing what's in store for them, two Jane Does say in separate lawsuits.
Jane Doe No. 2 sued Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India in Superior Court on Monday, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and seven other counts.
Jane Doe No. 1 filed a similar complaint Tuesday against the same defendants in the same court.
The two lawsuits follow one from another former student, Sarah Baughn, who claimed in March this year that Choudhury made sexual advances while she was training to be a teacher in 2005. That complaint alleged sexual harassment, but not rape.
In her complaint, Jane Doe No. 2 claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift to be trained as a teacher at Choudhury's Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego.
Doe No. 2 says in the complaint that defendant Does 1-25, "other persons in defendant Bikram Choudhury's inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhury's pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them." She claims the Doe defendants knew this was in the cards, but "did nothing to prevent this from happening to plaintiff or to protect her."
Her 36-page complaint claims there is a disturbing cult-like environment in the studios, where studio owners and instructors enroll attractive, vulnerable young women for Choudhury to sexually assault or rape.
Choudhury's Bikram Yoga franchise is a form of Hatha Yoga practiced in studios heated to 105 degrees.
Doe No. 2 claims the brutal nine-week teacher training program cost $13,000. During the program, students must abstain from sex, are taught that Bikram Yoga can cure cancer and other diseases, and instructed that Choudhury is akin to a God, she says in the complaint.
During teacher training, "every moment of a student's day is controlled by the schedule set by defendant Bikram Choudhury," the complaint states. "The day usually starts at 7:00 a.m., and ends between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Students are required to attend each and every class and spend eight plus hours a day being instructed. When they can eat, what they can drink during class (water only, and even that is heavily frowned upon by defendant), what they wear (must not wear color green and must wear tight, skimpy clothing), the expressions on their face, the words that come out of their mouths and the position of their bodies are all controlled by defendant Choudhury and other instructors."
Doe No. 2 claims the grueling schedule was designed to "break down her body, will and spirit," and brainwash her with Choudhury's "vision and teachings."
She describes Choudhury as a combustible tyrant who orders students during classes to remain mute, and treat him "with unquestioning obedience."
"Students are also often required to attend evening lectures, where defendant Choudhury rants on subjects including his negative views on certain races; negative views on homosexuality; the moral lassitude of Americans; his guru; his views on sex, marriage, and relationships; and whatever else he should care to talk about," the complaint states.
Some students are pushed so hard they faint, vomit, urinate on themselves, or suffer heat strokes and seizures, Doe says in the complaint.