He grabbed my lady parts (1)

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Photo: Elmo Riig / Sakala

Yesterday’s episode of ETV investigative journalism program “Pealtnägija” showed a side of Maaleht’s horoscope writer Igor Mang the public did not know. Mang touched the breasts and groin of young women who came in for a séance with him.

Kaja (name changed), who contacted “Pealtnägija”, met Mang through her work years ago and had a birth chart drawn up by the astrologist. Things took a turn for the weird in Tallinn’s Kadriorg park in fall two years ago.

“I saw Mr. Mang ride toward me on his bike. He had his little dog with him, and he recognized me. I don’t know whether I was looking a little depressed that day or like I needed help. Anyway, he told me of a beautiful tree right there in the park that has a healing aura,” Kaja said.

Kaja did not sense danger when Mang led her to a great oak that has a hollow some 1.5 meters up the trunk and asked her to climb inside.

“I hadn’t even reached the hollow when I saw him. He was in there in a blink of an eye. He said it was the best place for opening chakras, cleansing,” Kaja recalled.

Turn for the strange

“He started touching me in a weird manner. His breathing became perverse to say the least, he started panting. The only thing I could think about was what would happen next and how to get out of there.” “Finally, he said that he needed to do one more thing. And that is when those hands went inside my pants. I don’t remember how I got out of there, but I found myself free of the tree and bolted for home.”

Kaja decided to let the incident rest until last year, when her acquaintance told her of an even more jarring experience she’d had with the astrologist.

“Pealtnägija” also talked to the other victim, but because her ordeal is still fresh in her mind and painful, she did not agree to share it with the public.

“Pealtnägija” then organized an experiment to verify allegations. The test subject, who called herself Marju, scheduled a meeting with Mang and posed as a client whose sign was Aries. The two met in front of the Lasnamäe orthodox church on March 9. The meeting place is a short walk away from Mang’s studio on the ground floor of an apartment building. The apartment where Mang started asking Marju about her life is officially registered as social housing.

“It was a kind of half-rhetorical conversation. He seemed to be waiting for my opinion. He told me about my family life and work life, and then he kind tried to get a feel for whether what he said was true,” Marju explained.

The topic soon turned to sexuality. Mang claimed that Marju is compatible with multiple partners. “You want and need movement, change, also in your relations with men. “You will fall in love with astrology and a certain astrologer.”

Marju said that things got strange when Mang discovered her chakras weren’t open.

“He told me to stand up, turned off the light, and asked me to look at a mandala on the window and the colors it had,” Marju described. “He touched my head, my hands. He started to slide his hand down toward by back, and that is when it became uncomfortable.”

The meeting lasted for an hour and 20 minutes, and Mang told Marju to come back in a year. The séance cost 70 euros.

Perhaps the meeting was a one-off misunderstanding? The program team decided to stage another experiment.

A young woman who went by Kätlin and said she was a Gemini got an audience for the evening of May 2. The exact same scenario was repeated – her star chart suggested multiple partners would be a good fit for her. Her palm reading arrived at the same conclusion, and 40 minutes into the séance, it was time to open the chakras.

Mang whispers on “Pealtnägija’s” recording: “Spread your legs a little, I will go on your childbirth area.”

“He literally grabbed my crotch,” Kätlin said. “First he grabbed one of my breasts, then he grabbed that so-called childbirth place, and then went for the other breast.”

The astrologer charged Kätlin 70 euros and asked her to return.

Nothing of the sort

Despite the fact “Pealtnägija” has knowledge of five incidents, two of which it has recorded, Mang (68) categorically denies having harassed women and refused to appear on camera. “No, I don’t want to talk about it,” Mang said over the phone. “There is nothing of the sort.”

While it would be possible to claim that the lines aren’t clear concerning alternative therapy, Mang claims there has been no touching – the furthest thing that could have happened with clients is a hug. According to the astrologer, all other allegations are part of a recent campaign against men.

Editor-in-chief of Maaleht, that annually publishes Mang’s horoscope, Andres Eilart told Postimees that the paper does not know how to react yet. “We will collect more information and react specifically. All I’ll say right now is that Mang used to put together a horoscope for us based on a license agreement,” Eilart said.

What about future cooperation? “We will make a decision regarding future cooperation once we have enough information,” the editor-in-chief said.

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