Former Agama Yoga student details alleged abuse at Thai wellness school

A former student and staff member at the Agama Yoga School on Koh Phangan, Thailand, says she was sexually assaulted by Narcis Tarcau, the Romanian founder who led the campus, and that her experience reflects a pattern of alleged abuse within the school. Mangala Holland, now 52, is the first survivor to publicly recount the ordeal in depth. Reports about Agama’s practices have circulated for years, including accounts of misogyny, exploitation and abuse. In 2018, 16 former pupils and staff described Agama as a “sex cult” in which sexual assault and coercive behavior were facilitated, and the school closed that July after apologizing for harm. It reopened the following year under Tarcau, who remains in charge and also oversees the school’s Tantra program. The revelations come amid broader scrutiny of wellness ventures marketed as transformative retreats, many operating with limited regulatory oversight.

Holland, raised in Frome, Somerset, left England in 2009 to escape burnout from a corporate career and search for personal meaning. She visited India for yoga training in Rishikesh and, six months later, traveled to Agama in 2010, a school founded in 2003 that grew to accommodate up to 200 students and later expanded to Colombia and Austria. She says the campus initially felt welcoming, with a community largely composed of Western women and a focus on self-improvement. Holland paid about £100 a month for classes, plus extra for on-site bungalow accommodation, and she eventually took a part-time reception role. She describes Tarcau’s leadership as magnetic yet intimidating: a tall, imposing figure in orange robes who could be witty but also harsh, telling students they were “the chosen, on a different path.”

By 2011, Holland says she had become sufficiently indoctrinated to accept Agama’s more extreme elements, including detox rituals and a broader shift toward Tantra. She says the detox practices—such as long periods of fasting and drinking large amounts of salt water—were presented as purification, while the tantric program began to emphasize disclosing and exploring personal blockages as part of spiritual development. She recalls that the tantra workshops she attended in 2011 were mostly conducted with participants clothed, emphasizing eye contact, meditation and non-sexual touch as a pathway to deeper experiences, with invitations to explore more “outside of this space” for those who wished.

Holland says the curriculum also framed polyamory as a Buddhist-based form of detachment, framed as energy exchange rather than personal relationships. She recalls a campus culture in which female students were encouraged to view male partners as manifestations of the divine, a dynamic she says led her to engage in sexual encounters she would not have pursued in ordinary life. She also alleges condoms were discouraged to preserve perceived energy flow, contributing to concerns about sexual health and coercion on a campus described as predominantly female. She adds that many students were young, and that the environment fostered a sense of belonging that made questioning the behavior difficult.

By 2012, Holland says conditions had begun to take a toll on her health. She describes losing weight and facing periods of fasting, which she says contributed to an eating disturbance. She recalls hearing rumors in 2013 that women were being summoned to meetings with Tarcau and assaulted. Initially dismissed as jealousy or rumor, the reports intensified in 2014 when she says Tarcau acknowledged in her presence that he had sex with students, presenting the acts as a teaching tool or a path to mastery. Holland says she felt physically ill and faced social ostracism when she attempted to raise concerns with colleagues.

In May 2015, escalating tensions within the school culminated in a finance-staff warning email that accused Tarcau of speaking to staff in a derogatory and demeaning manner and of ignoring an allegation of rape against a male staff member, while noting harmful outbreaks of sexually transmitted disease on campus. Holland says the email chain made tangible the dissonance she had long felt between the teaching and the reality on the ground. She says she decided to leave a month later, refusing a final blessing, and booked a flight to Melbourne after saving enough money. The move represented a turn of independence, though the trauma lingered.

In Melbourne, Holland found work in a yoga studio and began posting about the misogyny and abuse she had witnessed at Agama on social media. She received messages from other women who said they had been harmed at the school, and her broader understanding of the case grew as she connected with others who shared similar experiences. In 2018, The Guardian published testimonials from 16 former pupils and staff who described Agama as a sex cult in which sexual assault and manipulation were normalized. The newspaper reported that some women were raped by Tarcau in private consultations under the guise of spiritual healing; other allegations included groping and coercive sexual behavior by male staff.

Agama responded with apologies and said there had been a campaign of hate against the school, while noting the difficulty of addressing the harms described. Holland filed a complaint with the Thai Consulate in Melbourne, which contacted Thai police; she says Thai authorities did not file charges due to the country’s statute of limitations for rape cases, which she confirms can pose a barrier to justice. The school briefly closed for restructuring in September 2018 but reopened soon after, with Tarcau on staff. An independent investigation commissioned by the school into the allegations was never published. Holland returned to England in 2020 and has since redirected her work toward helping women develop sexual confidence without exploitation.

Today, Holland remains critical of the wellness industry’s unregulated nature and its lure of transformative promise. She says she wants to ensure other women do not endure what she experienced, and she continues to advocate through online courses aimed at safe, empowered sexuality. Her parents, she says, remain unaware of the full extent of the abuse she says she endured, a detail underscoring the personal cost of speaking out publicly. Agama Yoga School and Narcis Tarcau were contacted for comment but did not respond to requests for comment.

Holland’s account highlights a broader concern about wellness retreats marketed as personal growth experiences. In an industry where spiritual language and self-improvement ideals are common, advocates say there is a risk of coercive power dynamics, especially in settings that connect intense practices with sexuality. Holland stresses that the lessons she now pursues focus on empowerment and safety, not secrecy or exploitation.

For women seeking wellness retreats, Holland offers a warning: examine the environment beyond the sun-drenched imagery and encouraging slogans. Scrutinize activities, ask about consent, and look for independent verification of safety practices. The case at Agama has drawn attention to the need for greater oversight of wellness programs—especially those that intertwine spiritual teaching with sexualized practices—and to more robust channels for reporting abuse within such communities.

Additional reporting: Deborah Cicurel