The ringleader of a violent Eighties sex cult is set to tell her story in a gripping new Netflix documentary.
Following on from the huge popularity of docu-series Wild Wild Country in 2018, the streaming service brings us Searching for Sheela. This time, viewers will hear the story Ma Anand Sheela – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's righthand woman, who claims to have "more scandals than show-business".
Sheela is widely regarded as the brains behind the Rajneeshism cult following its relocation from India to the US. After setting up base in Oregon, she notoriously organised the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack and committed countless acts of immigration fraud, which eventually landed her behind bars.
But there's a lot more to Sheela's story than her time in prison. So before you settle in with some popcorn, we break down 12 of the most fascinating and twisted facts about the woman herself. Brace yourself...
1. She was introduced to Rajneeshism by her parents
Before she became Ma Anand Sheela, she was born Sheela Ambalal Patel in 1949 to parents, Ambalal and Maniben in Baroda, Gujarat.
Surprisingly, she discovered the movement through her parents, who had been committed followers of Rajneesh. In fact, she first met Rajneesh while visiting them in India. She later said she felt devoted the moment she saw him, stating in Wild Wild Country: "It was in this moment if death were to have come, I accept. My life was complete."
2. She was the mastermind of the commune
Ma Anand Sheela became the official spokesperson and personal secretary of Rajneesh in 1981 – a position she held until 1985, before she was charged and convicted in the US.
During her tenure, she turned Rajneesh into an internationally recognisable brand. After it was deemed that the Pune ashram had achieved all it could in India, she was the brains behind acquiring a 65,000-acre ranch in Wasco County, Oregan. It became the commune's first global base in 1981, which eventually became replete with shops, a school, and even a landing strip for planes!
3. She was accused of poisoning the citizens of Oregan
Sheela was accused of poisoning the citizens of Oregan in order to win elections in the state, in what was dubbed one of the largest bioterror attacks in the country. In a bid to increase the influence of the cult, she was said to have wanted to win two open seats in the 1984 Wasco County elections.
When her attempts at bringing in homeless people and those outside Wasco County failed, she reportedly poisoned the city using bacteria to make detractors within the city ill, and thereby skew the vote in their favour. After infecting 10 local salad bars with salmonella, 751 people were left with some form of food poisoning.
4. Sheela wiretapped the ashram
Sheela's controlling tendencies also resulted in her establishing a secret listening post near the commune's telephone centre. This meant that all the calls into and out of Rajneeshpuram were tapped, and listened to by some of her most trusted devotees between May and June of 1984.
Former Rajneeshee, Ma Prem Padma, admitted to taking part in the commune listening post during her trial. "I was part of a rotating schedule" of disciples who monitored the calls," she said, per AP. "I listened to conversations without the consent of other people and I knew they were being tape-recorded."
5. Immigration fraud and sham marriages
Sheela and Rajneesh were also accused of conspiring to arrange over 400 sham marriages amongst the cult's followers so they could remain in the states after their visas expired.
Again, Sheela was said to have been the brains behind the operation, which was an effort to increase the cult's number of permanent Rajneeshees.
6. Sheela spent time behind bars
Eventually, Sheela's indiscretions caught up with her. After the 1984 bioterror attack, she fled to Europe as a fugitive. Then, in 1986, Judge Hilse and Commissioner Matthew of Wasco County found Sheela guilty for crimes of poisoning, wire-tapping, immigration fraud and assault. She was convicted for 20 years and fined $470,000.
However, on account of good behaviour, she was released on parole after just 29 months.
7. Sheela and Rajneesh's breakup turned nasty
After Sheela fled to Europe on September 13th, 1985, her ties with Rajneesh were well and truly severed. He accused his one-time right hand of "arson, wiretapping, attempted murder, and mass poisonings." Interestingly, he also claimed that Sheela had written The Book of Rajneeshism under his name. Published in 1983, it included edited excerpts of his lectures, but Rajneesh was quick to disavow the book after his relationship with Sheela broke down.
Shortly afterwards, he said that Rajneeshism and Rajneeshees no longer exist, and that anything with the name Rajneeshism would be destroyed. He proceeded to burn Sheela's robes and 5,000 copies of the Book of Rajneeshism in a bonfire at the ashram in Oregan.
8. She was accused of stealing $55 million from the cult
When Sheela and her inner circle fled the commune, there were a number of accusations that she had pocketed $55 million of the cult's funds.
She vehemently denied the claim, telling India Today in 2014: "I had nothing to do with the missing money. In any case, the new financial advisor of the Rajneesh commune has now retracted these accusations and has stated that no money was missing. I have stolen nothing and if the $55 million was indeed missing, it must have been blown on the fleet of Rolls Royces, planes, watches and expensive jewellery bought for the Bhagwan."
9. A plot to kill a US federal prosecutor resurfaces
In 1985, a group of high-ranking Rajneeshes conspired to assassinate the then-United States Attorney for the District of Oregan, Charles Turner. Sheela reportedly assembled the group after Turner was appointed to investigate illegal activity at Rajneeshpuram, including the charges of immigration fraud, fake marriages, and later the group's bioterror attack.
The plot was never carried out and was only discovered later as a result of the investigation into the bioterror attack, and the other charges brought against the commune.
Sheela wasn't convicted for this purported assassination till 1999, however. She was charged by a Swiss court for "criminal acts preparatory to the commission of murder" in relation to the proposed assassination. She was found guilty of the equivalent Swiss charge and sentenced to time served.
10. She now runs two nursing homes in Switzerland
Sheela now runs two nursing homes: Matrusaden (mother’s home) and Bapusaden (father’s home), both of which shelter the elderly who are suffering from mental illnesses such as dementia.
It's a fact that viewers of Wild Wild Country found to be rather sinister, however. One Twitter user wrote: "How on earth is Sheela allowed to run nursing homes and work with the elderly????", while another added, "It's chilling that a woman convicted of poisoning owns two nursing homes in Switzerland. I would not eat the salads there."
11. She's the author of a memoir
In 1996, she published a memoir titled: Don't Kill Him! The Story of my Life with Bhagwan Rajneesh. This was published a year after Rajneesh's death, and delved into her contentious relationship with the guru, and her thoughts on her time within the cult. It was originally written in German and later translated into English.
12. Sheela will be portrayed by Priyanka Chopra in the not too distant future
In February of 2020, it was announced that Sheela would be played by Priyanka Chopra in the upcoming Amazon Studios drama, Sheela. It's due to be directed and produced by Barry Levinson, and will be a feature film adaptation of 2018's Wild Wild Country.
Searching For Sheela will air on Netflix on April 22nd.
(Feature Image Credit: Netflix)
