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Hindu
guru gets 14 years jail for molestation in US
Wednesday March 09, 2011 07:47:04 PM,
Arun Kumar,
IANS
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Washington:
A missing Hindu guru has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for
each of 20 counts of molesting two girls who grew up on the Hindu
ashram he founded and led in central Texas.
With convicted Prakashanand Saraswati still missing and presumed
on the run, a Hays County jury in Austin, Texas, Tuesday sentenced
the 82-year-old for molesting the girls in his Barsana Dham ashram
in Driftwood during the 1990s.
Known to his followers as Shree Swamiji, the religious leader
claims hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide. The parent
organization to which his 200-acre Barsana Dham ashram belongs,
owns and operates temples and hospitals in India and other
countries.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated only a half-hour
to sentence the guru kissing and fondling the girls while they
were in their teens.
"The last three-and-a-half years have been a living hell," Kate
Tonnessen, now 31, one of the victims, was quoted as saying by
Austin American-Statesman.
Her sister, Vesla Tonnessen Kazimer, 27, said: "He has failed as a
spiritual leader, and he has failed as a grandfather, and he has
failed as a person."
The Statesman said attorneys for the guru were unavailable for
comment, but prosecutors said they anticipated an appeal of the
verdict and sentence.
Meanwhile, the search for the guru, missing since Sunday evening,
continued with police reporting no new leads as to his
whereabouts.
Prakashanand is thought to be travelling with his longtime
assistant and caregiver, Vishwambhari Devi. A warrant has been
issued for his arrest.
US Marshal Hector Gomez said federal officers are "investigating a
potential federal violation of an unlawful flight to avoid
prosecution, and we are working closely with the Hays County
sheriff's office to locate him."
Hays County authorities also began the process of collecting $11
million in bond money and other financial commitments they said
Prakashanand forfeited when he did not show up in court Monday
morning.
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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