Since the court is having his passport, it is unlikely that he left the country. Deputies of Hays County are actively searching for Prakashandand in attempt to execute the warrants," Bain said. There was no immediate response to the several phone calls and the email sent to Aman Agrawal, spokesman of Barsana Dham, seeking their statement on the issue.
Spread over acres of sprawling campus south of Austin, Barsana Dham, established by Prakashanand in , is one of the largest Hindu temples in the United States. Prakashanand also has several charity works in India. We don't know the reason for his absence," Jeff Kearney, lead attorney for Prakashanand, was quoted as saying by the American Statesman newspaper.
The sentencing has been rescheduled for today. The charges by Rose and Kazimer against Prakashanand were first levied in April following which he was arrested for allegedly molesting these two women, who were young girls then between and He was later released on a USD 1 million bond. A third woman Kate Tonnessen, 31, too made similar allegations recently. Swami wanted in US escapes to India.
An year-old wheel-chair bound Indian spiritual guru, a fugitive after being convicted of groping two young girls, may have sneaked clandestinely into India, a US court has been told. US Marshals, still looking for him, suspect that Prakashanand Saraswati, known to his devotees as Swamiji, may have fled America in connivance with his close associ US: Hindu guru gets year jail in sexual molestation case.
A US jury on Wednesday sentenced a Hindu religious leader to 14 years in prison and fined him USD 10, for each of the 20 counts of molestation of the two girls who grew up in the ashram he founded and led in Central Texas.
As Kate Tonnessen recalled, "After talking to Shyama and getting that confirmation that what had occurred to me had been happening to her, I don't know, I just panicked and I spent days in darkness, writing in this journal. Like Rose, Tonnessen expected support from her mother. Instead, her mother sided with her guru. Tonnessen said, "I was in trouble for seeing it as something other than religious.
Allegations against Swamiji's guru. Without support from their families or communities and afraid to go to the police, the girls stayed and endured until they were old enough to leave Barsana Dham. Shyama Rose went to college to pursue a degree in computer science. Saraswati had a guru of his own, a well-known holy man from India named Kripalu who came to the United States in to spend time at Barsana Dham.
In a later online search, Kate Tonnessen discovered that Kripalu had faced accusations of rape in India and in Trinidad. As Vesla Tonnessen recalled, the Kripalu allegations changed the equation for the three women. Knowing that Saraswati served and worshipped Kripalu, could the arrival of the guru's guru put other girls still living in the ashram at risk? And that there was probably a lot more abuse out there," Vesla said.
You go to the police. Seeking justice. In , the three women brought their allegations to the Hays County, Texas, authorities. Though Saraswati never had sexual intercourse with them, in the eyes of the law his touching of their breasts while they were under the age of consent constitutes a felony. But for Kate Tonnessen, it was too late to seek justice. The statute of limitations for this offense -- 10 years after her 18th birthday -- had expired a mere two months earlier.
But her younger sister Vesla and their friend Shyama Rose were still within the year limit. Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton pursued their case. Spiritual leader uses influence for evil An indictment was handed up against Prakashanand Saraswati, but his devotees' faith never wavered. Kate and Vesla Tonnessen's parents were among those who sided with the Saraswati. It was their own attachment to their guru that allowed them to override their love for me and my sister.
Producers for "The Hunt" reached out to the women's mothers, who did not comment. Trial and conviction.
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