MOSCOW, August 25 (RAPSI) – Yulia Zimova, a member of the Civic Chamber’s Commission on Support of Family, Children, and Motherhood, has requested that Prosecutor General Yury Chaika investigate the Hare Krishna movement for possible infringement on children’s rights, Izvestia newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Izvestia writes that social activists are worried by reports that children were encouraged in inhale the fumes of joss sticks during the cult’s meetings and to dance naked.

According to the newspaper, Zimova writes in her appeal that she wants to create a precedent to show that such religious communities cannot infringe on children’s rights.

“This is a difficult period economically, and people tend to join religious communities in search of spiritual strength, which doesn’t always take the right course. Children would not be taken from a mother who joined such an organization not only for religious reasons but also because she may have a personal relationship with a cult follower – she doesn’t drink or smoke, but if we prove that her children’s rights are infringed upon, including by forcing young children to follow a strict vegetarian diet, this could be used to restore justice in relation to her children,” Zimova writes.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement, was founded in 1966 in New York City. It is a religious movement based on Hinduism whose devotees practice bhakti-yoga, the eternal science of loving service to God.