‘Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult’, Part 3 recap: 11 shocking reveals
By Mads Lennon
In Part 3 of Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult, India Oxenberg details what life was like inside of DOS and her increasingly disturbing relationship with Allison Mack and Keith Raniere.
Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult is not an easy show to watch, and Part 3, “Enslaved,” is easily the most disturbing episode thus far. It’s only made the slightest bit more palatable because NXIVM leader Keith Raniere just received a 120-year prison sentence.
Content warning: The following article contains details about sexual assault that might be extremely triggering to some readers.
As many people know by now, NXIVM had an abusive sex trafficking group called DOS at its epicenter. In Part 3 of Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult, India details how she was repeatedly abused, brainwashed and indoctrinated into the group by Allison Mack and Keith. The following article recounts some of the most shocking reveals from the episode.
11. Allison Mack reportedly told India to have Keith Raniere take a naked photograph of her.
Toward the beginning of India’s indoctrination into DOS, she says Allison forced her to seduce Keith. That involved getting him to take a naked photograph of her as proof of the assignment’s completion. At the time, India didn’t necessarily concern herself with abuse because people within NXIVM repeatedly talked about Keith abstaining from sex.
Keith told her he was her “grandmaster,” as Allison’s master. India thought she was pushing past her fears and doing something that was going to help her.
10. India lived with Allison in her Clifton Park townhouse.
As Allison’s slave, India moved into Allison’s townhouse in Clifton Park. She would take care of the house, clean, cook and generally manage anything that Allison needed to have done as she became further immersed in Allison’s life and the community.
“My life became very much like her life. It was all about having this rigorous lifestyle.”
Allison would give her punishments for small things like forgetting to text “Good night, Master,” etc. then she would send her little frowny face emojis, like tiny disapprovals.
“Later, the punishments got more severe. I had to do planks, ice-cold showers, standing in the snow at 3:00 a.m.”
9. Keith wanted India to weigh 106 pounds.
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Previous episodes discussed how Keith wanted women in the group to be very thin. They would often be pressured to lose weight. In Part 3 of Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult, India details how things got much worse within DOS.
One of her assignments was to weigh 106 pounds. India claims that Allison limited her to 500 calories or less a day. She had to ask for permission before she could eat anything.
“It was supposed to be a practice in discipline and self-restraint. My entire day was about how much I could eat, how little I could eat, how I hungry I was. And I had no time to think about anything else.”
After a few months, India’s hair started falling out, and she stopped getting her period — Clare Bronfman, Nancy Salzman and Allison told her it was normal — Allison said she hadn’t had a period for ten years.
“I trusted them. They were my authority figures.”
8. Allison had several other slaves.
In Part 3 of Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult, it is revealed that along with India, Allison had three other slaves within her pod. One was Dr. Danielle Roberts, an osteopath who ran a fitness and health program created by Keith called Exo/Eso.
The other two slaves, Michele and Nicole, were both coaches from New York City. When they were permitted to speak, India felt instantly bonded with them because it felt like a veil of secrecy had been lifted.