NOVOSIBIRSK, January 25 - RAPSI. Prosecutors are seeking a 14-year sentence against the leader of a yogic cult on charges of rape and sexual assault as well as drug trafficking, according to RIA Novosti correspondents present in the courtroom.

Konstantin Rudnev, the 44-year-old leader of the religious movement Ashram Shambala, was initially charged with founding a religious society that infringed on the rights of its followers, but prosecutors requested for this charge to be dropped as the 2-year statute of limitations had passed.

Rudnev fancied himself a messiah referred to as "a stranger from Sirius," who was sent to earth to save devotees. Recruitment to his cult took place during local yoga seminars.

The cult leader is reportedly accused of having used drug use, forced participation in orgies, and such psychological abuses as sleep deprivation and starvation, to foster a suppression of personal will.

Many members donated all of their worldly possessions to the cult.

The hearings, which have been held behind closed doors since July 2011, will continue on January 28.

Rudnev was detained in his cottage outside of Novosibirsk in September 2010. Investigations were launched against Rudnev in 1999, 2004, and 2008, but each of these efforts collapsed prior to reaching the court as cult members refused to testify against their guru.

Authorities say that the cult was established in 1989 in Novosibirsk and currently has branches in 18 regions across Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
According to the regional prosecutor's office, Rudnev's teaching is based on his book The Way of the Fool.

The book ridicules the family and the desire to have children, education and work, but praises blind subordination to the will of the guru, who apparently leads his followers to a better future through abandoning anything that isn't real.

The sect reportedly has 30,000 members. However, only 16 people have been come forward as aggrieved parties in the present case against their leader.