Ashram Shambala, Pregnant Woman, And Cult Leader's Arrest In Argentina

Authorities in Argentina have arrested Russian cult leader Konstantin Rudnev, the founder of the Ashram Shambala religious group, in a human trafficking case. They are examining the possibility of a 22-year-old woman and her infant being coerced into a scheme that allows him to be granted Argentine citizenship by having the child born in the South American nation.

Police have arrested over a dozen Russian nationals, including Rudnev, who are believed to be part of the religious group, CNN reported.

Pregnant Woman Sparks Arrest

The investigation began after the Russian woman arrived at a hospital in the Patagonian city of Bariloche to give birth on March 21. She was accompanied by two other women. 

This was not their maiden visit as the hospital staff saw them four days earlier when they struggled to share how they were connected to the pregnant lady as well as their residence in the region.

As per Argentina's prosecutor and police reports, the pregnant woman looked nervous and malnourished, while she was not allowed to speak much by her two companions.

Soon after, the doctors were alarmed by the condition of the woman and her companions' behaviour.

After the child was born, the two women asked the hospital authorities to document the newborn's last name as 'Rudnev,' insisting that he was the father of the child, the prosecutor's report states.

Konstantin Rudnev Arrested

A week after the incident, the Argentine police managed to locate Konstantin Rudnev and arrested him at the Bariloche airport on March 28. 

According to Meduza, a total of 14 people were arrested as they attempted to fly to Brazil. Out of these, eight were taken into custody at the airport in Bariloche, while six others were arrested in Buenos Aires.

The two women, who accompanied the mother to the hospital, were arrested in a raid of their shared home in the region.

Argentina prosecutor Fernando Arrigo believes that the woman might have been a victim of the Ashram Shambala. However, none of them have been charged with a crime yet, as criminal investigations start with an arrest.

His office is probing 21 Russian nationals in total. They have been accused of "being part of a criminal organisation that, for the purposes of sex trafficking and slavery, recruited a 22-year-old woman brought from Russia," CNN reported.

Rudnev, a mechanical engineering graduate turned religious leader, established the religious group in 1989.

He used to tell his followers that he was an "alien from Sirius" and a messiah sent to the planet to save people. 

Ashram Shambala earlier had its reach in Russia's 18 regions and nearly 30,000 members, with several of them worshipping Rudnev after severing ties with family.

Rudnev was sentenced to 11 years in jail by a district court in Siberia in 2013 after being accused of rape, violent sexual acts and drug trafficking.