{"id":232016,"date":"2026-04-23T19:46:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=232016"},"modified":"2026-04-23T19:47:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:47:46","slug":"twisted-tv-how-a-documentary-bent-the-facts-out-of-shape-3-the-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/twisted-tv-how-a-documentary-bent-the-facts-out-of-shape-3-the-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Twisted TV: How a Documentary Bent the Facts Out of Shape. 3. The \u201cVictims\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Massimo Introvigne and Rosita \u0160oryt\u0117<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cApostate\u201d ex-members have a right to express their distress, and their stories should be carefully considered. But are they always believable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article 3 of 4. Read article 1<\/a> and article 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recruited by Hugues Gascan or not, \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>\u201d presents the experiences of some of the \u201capostate\u201d ex-members who left MISA and agreed to testify in the French case against Bivolaru. \u201cApostate,\u201d by the way, is not an insult: it is a term introduced in the 20th century by leading American sociologist David Bromley to designate the minority of ex-members of a religious organization who devote a substantial part of their lives to the militant opposition against the religion they have left. \u201cApostate\u201d is not a synonym of \u201cex-member,\u201d as most ex-members are not apostates.<\/p>\n

Between Tabloid Fame and Courtroom Reality: The Agnes Marques Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the figures introduced by \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>\u201d are well-known and have told their stories several times before. We have mentioned Agnes Arabela Marques (born Mure\u0219an). She appears in \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>\u201d with shocking revelations about Bivolaru: \u201cMy initiation took place at the beginning of 2000. I was a virgin. I don\u2019t want to give you too many details about my initiation, but it was nothing very special. I didn\u2019t feel any pleasure. On the contrary, I remember that the bed was full of blood, but he didn\u2019t mind. I remember that at one point, I had some tears. I was 15 years and 6 months old<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The documentary never pauses to explain who \u201cAgnes\u201d actually is, though viewers familiar with the anti-cult media landscape might recognize her. Back in 2016, she released a book in Portugal titled \u201cA Adepta<\/em>\u201d (\u201cThe Adept<\/em>\u201d), a semifictionalized memoir in which MISA and Bivolaru appear under the barely disguised aliases \u201cASIM<\/em>\u201d and \u201cBregor Glav<\/em>.\u201d In that narrative, Marques presents herself as having entered the group at fifteen, becoming sexually involved with Bivolaru before turning sixteen, and later being sent to Japan, where she performed as a pole dancer. She writes that students affiliated with MISA who worked in Japanese clubs were not formally required to engage in sexual relations with clients, though she claims some did. Eventually, she says, she fell in love with a wealthy Japanese businessman who helped her realize the \u201ccultic\u201d nature of the movement, married her, and enabled her departure from ASIM (i.e., MISA). The Portuguese book served as background for \u201cThe Believer<\/em>,\u201d published in English in 2024.<\/p>\n

Although the book is openly novelized, anticult activists and tabloid outlets\u2014especially in Romania\u2014treated it as documentary truth. Marques had already become a minor celebrity in Portugal in 2014 when she was cast in the fifth season of \u201cCasa dos Segredos<\/em>\u201d (\u201cHouse of Secrets<\/em>\u201d), the Portuguese version of \u201cSecret Story<\/em>,\u201d itself a spinoff of \u201cBig Brother<\/em>.\u201d The gimmick of the show was that each contestant carried a secret that the others had to uncover. Agnes\u2019 \u201csecret\u201d was that she had been \u201ckidnapped and brainwashed by a cult<\/em>.\u201d She also repeated the story of her affluent Japanese husband, now deceased, who had supposedly left her a substantial inheritance, as well as the tale of the child she claimed to have had with him.<\/p>\n

Her notoriety in Portugal only grew. She became a fixture in tabloids, thanks to her singing career, her tumultuous romantic life involving various celebrities, and her willingness to pose seminude. But fame cuts both ways. The same tabloids that elevated her also investigated her. They reported that her Japanese husband, Katsuno Yasunori, was financially comfortable but not a millionaire, and was not the father of her child, who was, in fact, born of a relationship with an Iranian partner. The money she received appears to have come from a settlement between Katsuno and the Iranian, who had been business associates. One tabloid even alleged that Marques worked in the pornography industry \u201cafter\u201d leaving MISA.<\/p>\n

Tabloid reporting\u2014whether flattering or accusatory\u2014always requires caution. That caution was notably absent in the Romanian press, which repeatedly and incorrectly claimed that Marques was responsible for sending Bivolaru to prison. In 2013, \u201cEvenimentul Zilei<\/em>\u201d ran a story titled \u201cThe Model Who Put Bivolaru in Prison<\/em>.\u201d In 2016, \u201cLibertatea<\/em>\u201d published an unsigned piece calling her \u201cthe blonde who sent Bivolaru to jail. Guru made her his sexual slave; she made him a\u2026 jailed man.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Court documents show that these claims were pure fiction. Bivolaru was imprisoned for the Dumitru case discussed earlier in this series; he was never convicted of having had sexual relations with Marques when she was underage. Her involvement in the Cluj human-trafficking case was marginal, and Bivolaru and MISA ultimately won that case. DIICOT, the Romanian antiterrorism and organized-crime agency, attempted to use her testimony to reframe the Cluj accusations from \u201chuman trafficking<\/em>\u201d to \u201ctrafficking minors<\/em>,\u201d based on her assertion that she had worked without pay for MISA before turning eighteen, including in an erotic videochat operation. In 2021, the Cluj Court of Appeal explicitly stated that Marques has provided no convincing evidence for her allegations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>,\u201d as noted earlier, omits the fact that Romanian judges\u2014despite their well-documented hostility toward Bivolaru\u2014never found Agnes\u2019 accusations credible. He was never convicted of any alleged sexual relationship with her as a minor.<\/p>\n

Marques\u2019 stories may have inspired another participant in \u201cTwisted Yoga\u201d and in reality shows, Ashleigh Freckleton of \u201cBachelor Australia<\/em>\u201d fame, who, in 2021, announced that she, too, had \u201csurvived a cult.\u201d She described attending a yoga camp in Romania and then being taken to Paris for a sexual initiation with the \u201cguru<\/em>,\u201d from which she says she escaped. Although she did not name the group, the identity was obvious. Gascan certainly recognized it and says he connected her with French authorities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Consent, Expectation, and Retrospective Interpretation in \u201cTwisted Yoga\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike Agnes\u2014whose claims were contradicted by Romanian courts\u2014Ashleigh does not allege that she had sexual contact with Bivolaru. Nor does she say she was unaware of what the Paris trip entailed. In \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>,\u201d she recounts being told that Bivolaru was in hiding because Interpol wanted him and that she fully understood the initiation would be erotic in nature. \u201cI was completely intrigued by the possibility that I could have a deeply spiritual experience in lovemaking<\/em>,\u201d she says. At some point, she changed her mind and decided not to participate. Viewers might expect the \u201ccult\u201d to have coerced her into staying. Instead, she reports that she was \u201callowed to leave<\/em>.\u201d She was asked to sign and record a statement affirming that she had not been sexually abused\u2014which, by her own account, was true. One may question the legal value of such a document, but the precaution itself was not irrational.<\/p>\n

Another witness featured in the documentary is Miranda Grace, already known from the BBC<\/em> podcast \u201cThe Bad Guru<\/em>,\u201d which one of us (\u0160oryt\u0117) analyzed in 2025<\/a>. In \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>,\u201d she repeats that she initially enjoyed the group and appreciated its teachings on the sacredness of the body. She traveled to France knowing the initiation would be sexual. \u201cAnd here was this opportunity for beyond satisfaction, a kind of ultimate happiness and enlightenment. It was a promise. You will experience these things, and everything will change<\/em>,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

There is no reason to doubt that Miranda now interprets her experience negatively, even if she acknowledges earlier positive aspects. Erotic rituals can be experienced very differently by different individuals. Some MISA students have engaged\u2014privately\u2014in unconventional erotic activities: adult films, performances at erotic festivals, erotic audio and videochat work, and pole dancing in gentlemen\u2019s clubs. Miranda\u2019s accounts of chat line work are unsettling, but not revelations. One of us (Introvigne) discussed these practices in the 2022 book \u201cSacred Eroticism<\/em>,\u201d which MISA students themselves received positively. The book, available in English and freely accessible in French and Italian, situates these private activities of some students within a paradoxical strategy of entering the world of adult entertainment to introduce some participants to MISA\u2019s alternative vision of eroticism.<\/p>\n

When Narratives Serve Interests: Rethinking the \u201cVictims\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be absolutely clear: if any women were coerced into such activities, those responsible should be prosecuted. But to date, no MISA leader has been convicted of such crimes, despite accusations spanning decades. It also remains uncertain whether these activities were private ventures by individual members or connected to leadership. The BBC<\/em> podcast featured Mihai Rapcea, inaccurately described as Bivolaru\u2019s former lawyer, and accurately described as a vehement opponent of MISA. Asked whether Bivolaru was directly involved in the videochat business\u2014beyond the indirect fact that students who earned more could donate more\u2014Rapcea replied emphatically: \u201cNo, no, no, no. He was involved only in writing books, studying, and having affairs with girls<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>\u201d portrays the witnesses as victims. MISA members we interviewed, who knew them personally, called them \u201cliars<\/em>\u201d and emphasized that some of them have an agenda. Miranda seeks significant damages from the British yoga center where she learned about Bivolaru\u2019s ideas. Another \u201cvictim\u201d featured in \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>,\u201d Bonnie, makes a living teaching \u201cyoni mapping therapy<\/em>\u201d and methods to enhance female pleasure. She admits she developed these ideas after receiving her first yoni massage<\/a> at the Tantra Temple in Copenhagen, where some students and teachers of MISA used to work. Bonnie is now a competitor of MISA and has a personal stake in discrediting it, as do some of the Finnish apostates who accuse Bivolaru (not featured in \u201cTwisted Yoga<\/em>\u201d), according to the late Liselotte Frisk\u2019s investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiar\u201d is a moral label that holds little significance for social science. While some witnesses may have conflicts of interest, their stories closely resemble those of members of \u201ccults\u201d who were deprogrammed. Some admit they experienced forms of \u201ctherapy,\u201d which led them to reinterpret their experiences as abuse. They also acknowledge the strong influence of reading anti-cult literature; Ashley mentions \u201ca constant reading rampage<\/em>.\u201d It is this anti-cult socialization that led them to conclude they had been \u201cbrainwashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article originally published on <\/em>Bitter Winter.<\/em><\/a> Subheadings added by the Editor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Massimo Introvigne<\/strong> (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR<\/a>), an international network of scholars who study\u00a0new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia<\/em> (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy<\/em>). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion<\/em><\/a> and of the executive board of University of California Press\u2019 Nova Religio<\/a>. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the \u201cRepresentative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions\u201d of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe <\/a>(OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>twistedmedia.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nApril 23, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Massimo Introvigne and Rosita \u0160oryt\u0117 \u201cApostate\u201d ex-members have a right to express their distress, and their stories should be carefully considered. But are they always believable? Article 3 of 4. Read article 1 and article 2. Recruited by Hugues Gascan or not, \u201cTwisted Yoga\u201d presents the experiences of some of the \u201capostate\u201d ex-members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":230937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[835],"tags":[1512],"class_list":["post-232016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-modern-crusade-against-spirituality-3480-en","tag-bivolaru_case"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232020,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232016\/revisions\/232020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}