Yoga Teacher Denies Rape, Says "Women Love Me"

NEW DELHI: Yoga guru and rape accused, Bikram Choudhary, has denied raping any of his students in an interview given to CNN. Choudhary has been accused by as many as six women of sexually assaulting them while they trained under him .

Bikram Choudhary, an Indian emigrant, built his yoga empire over five decades which has spread now to many countries world over. He charges a princely $13000 for teaching his signature 26 pose technique, under a scorching 105 F (41 degrees) temperature, hence the name 'hot yoga'.

The allegations of rape were made as late as 2013 but largely went unnoticed . It's when Sarah Baughn, a trainee under him spoke vehemently against the spiral of silence which reigned in the Bikram Yoga community that other women came forward and shared their tales of exploitation too.

However, the 69 year old has not only denied ever assaulting any trainee rather has insisted that he doesn't have to. "Women love me. Women like me " he says in the interview.. If I wanted to involve the woman. I don't have to assault the woman. ", he said, implying there's no dearth of women for sex in his life.

In the interview when he was asked if he had ever had sex with other students he answered "yes and no".

"I have no intention to have sex with any of my students or any women," he said. "Sometimes students, they commit suicide. Lots of students of mine, they commit suicide because I will not have sex with them."

Sarah Baughn , one of the alleged victims, joined Bikram Yoga to cure her chronic back pain and depression and was extremely happy with the results. She soon started teaching the same techniques herself, but soon realised the picture wasn't so rosy after all . She was constantly approached by Choudhary to engage in sex with him which she kept on rejecting until one day.

"He crawled on top of me and he put his hand on my, inside of my thigh, and the other hand he wrapped around me, and he was holding me there," she said in the CNN interview.

She continued, "He told me that he needed somebody to be with him, to massage him, to brush his hair, to spend time with him, that he was lonely. And he said, 'And I need someone to, to have sex with me.'"

Choudhary's lawyers have dismissed the accusations as an attempt to malign the yoga teacher.