Val di Susa: alleged yoga and meditation sect leader arrested
Carabinieri arrest 59-year-old man accused of reducing people to slavery, sexual violence and abuse of vulnerable individuals housed in residential community presented as spiritual centre. Also accused of aggravated fraud against the State.
Operation "Asmodeo" against pseudo-spiritual community
According to giornalelavoce.it, an operation by carabinieri from the Turin Provincial Command led to the arrest of a 59-year-old man in the Lower Val di Susa on the morning of Thursday 1 October. The precautionary custody order in prison was executed at the conclusion of an investigation conducted by the Turin Investigative Unit under the coordination of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The charges against the arrested man are of considerable gravity: reducing someone to slavery, domestic abuse, aggravated sexual violence and aggravated fraud against the State. These are allegations within an investigation still ongoing, with criminal responsibility to be established in court proceedings.
The method of approach
The investigation, named "Asmodeo", documented an articulated recruitment mechanism. Externally, the community presented itself as a centre for yoga, meditation and personal defence courses. According to the accusation, however, these activities represented the first step in establishing increasingly close relationships with people selected on the basis of their personal vulnerabilities.
Investigators contend that the individuals identified were subsequently housed within a residential community managed by the arrested man. Oriental disciplines and physical wellness techniques, which in themselves are normal, are said to have been used as a means of approach for particularly vulnerable individuals.
Violence and abuse within the facility
It was within the residential community that, according to the documentation gathered during the investigation, the most serious incidents are alleged to have occurred. The carabinieri documented physical and psychological violence, accompanied by sexual abuse. The facility is described by investigators as a pseudo-spiritual community, in which the relationship between the person in charge and the housed individuals is said to have progressively exceeded the boundaries of normal cohabitation.
Reduction to slavery in Italian law
The charge of reducing someone to slavery represents the most significant accusation. In the Italian criminal code, this offence is not limited to traditional forms of slavery, but also applies when a person is maintained in a state of continuous subjection through violence, threat, deception or exploitation of vulnerable situations. It will be the investigative documents and the judicial proceedings that will clarify which specific conduct is attributed to the 59-year-old.
Further charges
Added to the violence allegations are charges of domestic abuse and aggravated sexual violence. There is also a charge of aggravated fraud against the State. Regarding the exact number of people involved, the duration of the alleged conduct and the municipality where the community is located, investigators provided no further details in the first official statement.
A system of relationships built over time
The "Asmodeo" investigation represents something different from an ordinary police operation. At the centre of the investigation would not be isolated individual incidents alone, but an alleged system of relationships and subjection progressively built around the community. The reconstruction of this system and the role exercised by the arrested man will represent one of the fundamental aspects of the judicial proceedings.
The case draws attention to a particularly delicate mechanism: that of closed communities built around charismatic figures, especially when they target people going through periods of personal difficulty. This does not mean that spiritual courses, Oriental disciplines or residential communities inherently conceal unlawful situations, but rather it remains fundamental to understand when a relationship initially based on trust can transform into dependency, isolation and control.
In the coming weeks, further elements may emerge from ongoing investigative activities and documents filed with the judicial authority. For now, the principal fact remains established: in the Lower Val di Susa, behind a reality that offered yoga, meditation and personal defence courses, the carabinieri believe they have identified a community where serious forms of violence and abuse are alleged to have occurred.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)