Davar rubbishes charges

"I am shocked by these allegations and deny them completely. I will not be intimidated into silence and will defend myself vigorously in court,” said Shiamak Davar, reported Free Press Journal (FPJ) of May 9, 2015. The 53-year-old dancer and choreographer is being sued by two former dance students in Canada for alleged sexual harassment. Two lawsuits have been filed in British Columbia’s Supreme Court by Percy Shroff, 40, and Jimmy Mistry, 33, alleging that Davar was sexually abusive and controlling as leader of a sect called the VRRP Spiritual Learning group which follows the teachings of the late Khorshed Bhavnagari, who wrote The Laws of the Spirit World in which she claimed her two sons, who had died in an accident, were communicating with her. As reported by Mumbai Mirror on May 9, both the complainants claimed they have endured years of unwanted sexual touching by Davar who also misused his authority as their spiritual leader to control all aspects of their lives, they revealed in a CBC news broadcast.
In a written response Davar has dismissed their claims as being untrue and stated that the complainants are trying to ruin "his character, reputation and affiliated organizations.” The dance guru, who divides his time between Bombay and Vancouver, has clarified that he is the "custodian” of VRRP and not its leader, mentioned MM.
Shroff and Mistry were in their late teens when they joined Davar’s dance troupe in Bombay and later moved to Vancouver to become part of VRRP Spiritual Learning, noted Hindustan Times (HT) on May 9. According to them, Davar became the group’s leader in 2007 following Bhavnagari’s demise. Alleging that Davar became more "controlling” and used his position as leader of the group to "influence all aspects of his life,” including a split with his girlfriend, Mistry told HT that he left Davar for good in 2008 after one "final sexual incident” that became the "last straw.”
Shroff informed HT that Davar told him he "was selfish and his soul could not progress spiritually fast enough because he would not submit further” to him. When Shroff married and moved to Vancouver, he was "pressured” by Davar to have a child even though he (Shroff) had begun "to accept that he was a gay man.” He pointed out Davar’s "influence” over his marriage and subsequent divorce, adding that he suffered "psychological injury and damage” on account of the "sexual exploitation,” reported HT. He alleged on the CBC news channel that he had decided to come forward at this time to protect his son from the "potential danger of sexual exploitation.”
"It is a privilege and honor for me to continue the work of my spiritual teacher Khorshed Bhavnagari… It is my position, as filed in my response, that these claims are being made by former members of VRRP Spiritual Learning to simply smear Bhavnagari’s good name and her wonderful book… I would like members of VRRP to rest assured that I will continue to serve the book and its teachings,” Davar mentioned to FPJ.