Source: Terry Xu/TOC

SINGAPORE — It was reported last Wednesday (8 Mar 2023) that a former yoga instructor from India who worked at Trust Yoga in Telok Ayer Street has been charged with 8 counts of molestation. Indian national Rajpal Singh is claiming trial. Altogether, 4 female victims are involved.

Singh started working at Trust Yoga in Singapore in 2019. The first alleged victim, who was then 24, was allegedly molested by Singh on 11 July 2020.

She later spoke to Mr Arvind Ganaraj, who was a sales assistant manager at Trust Yoga but to no avail. The victim then posted her unpleasant experience on social media.

Subsequently, 3 women came out to accuse Singh of molestation too. All 4 made separate police reports in July and August 2020. Singh also has two other molestation charges linked to a fifth woman pending.

The studio’s founder is listed as Mr Manoj Deshwal, who is said to have been teaching yoga in Singapore since 2011.
Before coming to Singapore, he worked as a yoga instructor at Bhatnagar International School and Maharshi Patanjali Yoga Sansthan in India for several years.

Allegations of sexual abuse have been made against many yoga teachers in recent times.

There have been criminal convictions in some cases. For example, a yoga teacher, Asaram Bapu, who has many students around the world, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018 for rape by a court in Jodhpur, India.

And at least six women have brought sexual assault lawsuits against Bikram Choudhury, another famous yoga teacher. In 2016 he was ordered to pay a female victim over US$900,000 for sexual harassment.
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