Brit found dead after being ‘brainwashed’ by New Age gurus on Bali spiritual retreat
Published By admin with Comments 0
A British businesswoman was found dead after being “brainwashed” by New Age gurus on a spiritual retreat in Bali, an inquest heard.
Josephine Tabor, 30, had spent two and a half years travelling the world in the lead up to her death, including visiting the Indonesian province for a spiritual getaway. Ms Tabor’s family told the court they believe she was influenced by cult-like groups after they found diary entries in which she described being administered “truth serum.”
The 30-year-old had taken up an interest in spiritualism after meeting her then boyfriend from America, who was “heavily interested” in star signs, tarot readings, retreats and other new age practices. And in a final tragic diary entry, Ms Tabor wrote: “I have tried everything except suicide. It is my final roll of the dice.”
In statements submitted to Taunton Coroner’s Court, her family said: “These retreats claimed to offer answers, they have thousands of followers, this does not make them qualified or altruistic. We know an inquest cannot apportion blame however there is a cult-like side to many of these retreats.
“When a vulnerable person is told a higher force can help them and that the universe is looking out for them, not friends and family, they have no one to turn to as they have been brainwashed that the answers do not lie here but in another universe.” Ms Tabor’s parents, farmers James and Elizabeth, said “the family were united” in the belief that vulnerable Josephine had been victimised in these retreats and that she recounted the experiences in her diaries.
They said she had attended a retreat in Bali for three weeks in the month prior to her death in December 2021 and added they felt their daughter attended a further retreat in Turkey, but could not be sure. She was found dead in a Turkish hotel room having died by suicide on December 30, 2021.
Although Ms Tabor’s family said they had been concerned for years that “she was caught up in a spiritual world” they did not want to criticise her lifestyle. The court heard how Ms Tabor was an “independent and able woman” who ran a successful online marketing and branding business with a large following, including more than 15,000 followers on social media.
She had a degree in psychology from Cardiff University and was also a qualified yoga teacher with a social media page dedicated to her teaching. Her family told the court Ms Tabor had no apparent life stresses they were aware of, was not short of money and had no dependents.
Content retrieved from: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brit-businesswoman-found-dead-after-34099140.
