Byron Bay psychedelic guru accused of strangling wife Kira-Tara Razam
Wearing a studded black jumpsuit with gold-rimmed glasses, the Elvis impersonator married the famous psychedelic figure and his glamorous partner in a live-streamed Las Vegas ceremony. The former Byron Bay couple’s eccentric celebration reflected their colorful lifestyle, focusing on groom Rak Razam’s work as an “alchemical storyteller”, author and filmmaker. plant medicines.
However, less than a year later their whirlwind love story turned into allegations of toxicity and abuse.
In May last year Kira-Tara Razam walked into Tweed Heads police station claiming Rak had strangled her at his Casuarina home and caused her to faint. Separately, she claimed her then-husband strangled her and dragged her across the floor at their home in Mullumbimby.
These accusations were detailed in the minutes of the Byron Bay Local Court hearing, which was heard in part. Rak pleaded not guilty to two charges of domestic violence by strangulation for two incidents in August and September 2024, claiming Kira-Tara initiated the violence.
But the 56-year-old pleaded guilty to common assault in the second incident and admitted grabbing his wife by the throat as he pushed her against the wall, “knocking her to the floor” and dragging her out of the bedroom, but denied choking her.
A ‘loving but stormy’ romance
Rak describes himself online as an “alchemical storyteller,” and his work includes first-person books and documentaries about ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant known for evoking profound hallucinogenic experiences. Kira-Tara is a former diamond business owner and part-time “spiritual healer”.
The couple married in Vegas in early 2024, and Rak said their relationship became “loving but tumultuous” due to family and logistical pressures that forced them to live apart.
The disputes came to a head in August 2024 with an alleged attack on Kira-Tara’s home in Casuarina, a seaside village between Byron Bay and the Gold Coast.
Only Rak’s evidence can be published due to closed court restrictions, but open court references paint the picture of Kira-Tara’s allegations.
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According to Kira-Tara, Rak repeatedly called her a whore and compared her to “that whore” in the breast.
However, Rak maintained that he never used the vulgar term and that they were having “new age spiritual discussions” around the “role of the goddess” in the context of Kira-Tara’s social media posts when the fight broke out.
“All I have said, as a scholar, as a coach, and as a professional looking at these issues, is that the goddess has many faces, and this is one of them, but I have never directly addressed her as such,” he testified.
Describing the Casuarina argument, Rak told the court that an angry Kira-Tara threw three porcelain plates at him and tried to attack him with a child’s violin. Although these moments were “a bit of a blur,” he said her “defenses kicked in” and he “somehow grabbed her and pushed her onto the couch.”
Kira-Tara claimed Rak wrapped his hands around her neck and pushed her face down onto the sofa, leaving her unable to breathe and temporarily unconscious.
She said he grabbed her wrists, which were “waving” and “clawing” as he attacked her, and was forced to “sit on her head” as he subdued her, but she “had no idea her face was on the couch.”
Raj said he did not have “the slightest” intention of strangling her as he claimed and believed “it was self-defense, he just held her hands and then sat on her head.” He stated that he “remained silent” and left.
“I was about a meter or two away from him and he regained consciousness, he was moving,” he said, later saying he “wasn’t aware that he had lost consciousness” but “regained movement and mobility.”
Mullumbimby controversy
Following the reconciliation, another dispute broke out a month later at Rak’s home in Mullumbimby over the blatant use of another derogatory word, “c—“.
Rak claimed that Kira-Tara slapped him and later attacked him in bed when he asked for an apology. The court heard the woman claimed he shouted at her repeatedly.
Rak said he tried to “kick her,” injuring her leg and pushing her to defend herself.
“There was excruciating pain going through me from the heel impact and then there was just white rage,” he said.
“There was a lot of awkwardness about how to get him off me, and I wasn’t thinking about it at that point.”
Rak said he “pushed her against the wall” and repeatedly asked her to stop “attacking” him as she slid down the wall.
“I responded in a way that was disproportionate… I was hitting his head on the ground,” he testified.
First, he said he didn’t remember having his hands around his neck when he pushed her, then said: “Maybe [have] – I think I put my hands on his throat.” He added that he “didn’t consciously do anything” and didn’t remember “the location of anything.”
“I responded in a way that was disproportionate… I was hitting his head on the ground.”
Rak Razam’s statement
Rak denied Kira-Tara’s testimony that he stuck his thumbs down her throat to restrict her breathing, but said he “dragged her from the room towards the door and asked her to leave.”
A few months later, the two broke up.
An officer testified that after going to police, Kira-Tara sent an audio recording in which her voice was unusually “hoarse” and expressed her pain. He also prepared medical records. Rak presented medical records regarding his injured foot.
Rak’s lawyers argued that he “exaggerated” events to harm his former partner after learning that Kira-Tara had started a new relationship.
He was sentenced to two years’ probation without being convicted for distributing an intimate image of his new partner without his consent.
There are several relevant ADVO applications regarding the events, including Kira-Tara being a protected person and a defendant.
The trial will continue in August.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Advisory Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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