Ma Anand Sheela

Career Rajneesh movement In 1981, Rajneesh appointed her as his personal assistant. In the same year, she convinced Rajneesh to leave India and establish an ashram in the United States. In July 1981, Rajneesh Foundation International purchased the Big Muddy Ranch in Wasco County, Oregon, which became the site for the development of the Rajneeshpuram commune. She was appointed the president of Rajneesh Foundation International, According to Sheela, Rajneesh was complicit in and directed her involvement in criminal acts she and a group of Rajneeshees committed later.

Rajneeshee bioterror attack

By 1984, the ashram was coming into increasing conflict with local residents and the Wasco County Board of Commissioners. Sheela attempted to have both Rajneeshee candidates for the two open seats on the Wasco County Board of Commissioners win the November election. She had hundreds of homeless people bused into the ashram, and she had them registered as voters in Wasco County. Sheela conspired to use "bacteria and other methods to make people ill" and prevent them from voting. She had salmonella put into salad bars at ten restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon; about 750 people became ill with salmonella poisoning.

On September 13, 1985, Sheela fled to Europe. A few days later Rajneesh "accused her of arson, wiretapping, attempted murder, and mass poisonings." Subsequently, Sheela's robes and 5,000 copies of the Book of Rajneeshism were burned in a bonfire at the ashram.

After US authorities searching her home found wire-tapping networks and a laboratory in which the bacteria used in the attack had been grown, and attempted murder. The Oregon Attorney General prosecuted her for crimes related to the poisoning of Commissioner Matthew and Judge Hulse while the US Attorney prosecuted crimes related to the restaurant poisonings. ultimately reduced to years,

Sheela was sent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, for female criminals. In December 1988, she was released on good behavior after serving 29 months and deported to West Germany. Sheela later moved to Switzerland. She moved to Maisprach, Switzerland, where she bought and managed two nursing homes.

In 1999, she was convicted by a Swiss court for "criminal acts preparatory to the commission of murder", in relation to a plot to kill US federal prosecutor Charles Turner in 1985. The Swiss government refused to extradite her to the US, but it agreed to try her in Switzerland. She was found guilty of the equivalent Swiss charge, and she was sentenced to time served.

Personal life Sheela married Marc Harris Silverman, an American from Highland Park, Illinois, and took the name Sheela P. Silverman. She returned to India in 1972 to pursue spiritual studies with her husband. They became disciples of the Indian guru Rajneesh and Sheela took the name Ma Anand Sheela. After her husband died, Sheela married a fellow Rajneesh follower, John Shelfer.

Media and documentaries The 2018 documentary Wild Wild Country includes several interviews with Sheela. On July 20, 2018, 'BBC Stories' YouTube channel published a video called Wild Wild Country: What happened to Sheela? Priyanka Chopra starred as Sheela in Amazon Studios Sheela, a feature film adaptation of Wild Wild Country. Sheela did not want the actress to play her and sent the actress a notice, demanding that she abort the project. She instead wanted Indian actress Alia Bhatt to play her onscreen.