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Spiritual guru Anand Krishna answered a police summons on Monday and was questioned for the first time as a suspect in a sexual abuse complaint filed against him by a former pupil, Tara Pradiptha Laksmi.

“I am ready [to be questioned],” Anand said on Monday.

He arrived at Jakarta Police headquarters at about 9:45 a.m. in a Toyota Alphard accompanied by a number of his legal advisers.

When he was issued the first summons last week, Anand failed to appear, saying that he was suffering from hypertension.

Anand said on Monday that he had recovered, but in the evening he fainted and was taken to the police hospital in the Kramat Jati area of East Jakarta.

Astro Girsang, one of Anand’s lawyers, said his client fainted after police asked him to sign a document certifying receipt of a warrant of arrest. He said Anand refused to sign and fainted because he was afraid of being detained by the police.

Tara, 19, has alleged that Anand sexually abused her while she was under some form of hypnosis, and claimed that Anand forced his students to watch him and his followers engaging in sexual acts, saying that it was for “energy transfer.”

Another of Anand’s lawyers, Darwin Aritonang, said his client had been questioned about several issues by investigators, including whether he had said “I love you” to Tara.

“He already said before that saying ‘I love you’ is pretty common, there is nothing special there. He also said it to several meditation participants, including the male participants,” Darwin said.

As evidence, Anand offered a printout of the words “I love you,” which he passed on to male meditation participants through Facebook, the social networking Web site.

“That statement is a common expression,” Darwin said. “There is no special meaning, it only means that they are regarded as people close to him.”

Darwin also said Anand never met personally with the participants in his classes. According to the lawyer, Anand had not held private classes for five years.

“This proves that the private meeting with Tara never happened,” he said.

Anand’s public meetings, he added, were conducted by holding open houses. “Only at those events does Pak Anand interact with the public,” he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people calling themselves the “Anand Ashram Lovers Community” have filed a defamation lawsuit against 10 women, including Tara, who have accused Anand of sexual abuse.

Norma Harsono, who filed the suit, said she had been hurt by the claims against Anand, “because everybody thinks that the sexual harassment happened.”