Los Angeles-based Bikram Choudhury, founder of Vikram yoga, was slapped with a lawsuit last week by his wife Rajashree Choudhury, seeking legal separation from her husband of 31 years.
The report, which was first published by show-business website TMZ Dec. 26 and re-reported by dozens of newspapers both in the U.S. and outside, said that Mrs. Choudhury laid out her terms of separation, saying in court papers that she wants spousal support. According to news reports, she also wants a share of the couple’s homes, including properties in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Honolulu. Choudhury, news reports said, leads a luxurious life style. He reportedly has a number of luxury cars. According to celebsnetworth.com he has a net worth of $75 million. The Kolkata-born yogi earns $7-10 million a year in royalties paid by yoga studios all over the world using his hot yoga format and name.
Mrs. Choudhury could be in line for tens of millions of dollars as under California’s divorce law, anything earned while she was living with her husband is considered “communal property” and must be shared, according to a report in The Telegraph of U.K.
The separation lawsuit comes at a time when 69-year-old Vikram Choudhury is faced with six other lawsuits, alleging rape and sexual assault of some of his students. One of the cases is expected to come up for hearing in January 2016.
News reports said that Mrs. Choudhury cited “irreconcilable differences” with her husband as the reason for the split. Neither TMZ, nor other reports, gave details of what those “irreconcilable differences” are, or if there was any particular reason for filing the separation lawsuit now. The couple has two adult children together.
When Bikram Choudhury was accused of allegedly raping and assaulting six former students last year, he denied all allegations in newspaper interviews. “”Women like me. Women love me,” he told CNN in April last year. “So, if I really wanted to involve the women, I don’t have to assault the women,’ he was quoted as saying.
Devotees of the Los Angeles-based yogi have included Madonna, Michael Jackson, Andy Murray, David Beckham and Lady Gaga, among many other celebrities.
The exercise program is popular around the world and there are now over Bikram Yoga schools in 220 countries, including in the U.S.
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