Prakashanand Saraswati, the Hindu guru who last week was convicted of molesting two girls who grew up on the Barsana Dham ashram he founded, did not show up Monday for the punishment phase of his trial. He is considered missing and his bail has been revoked and an arrest warrant has been issued. He had been living in this house located at 121 Woodland Drive in Driftwood, Texas, which is just south of the ashram
HOUSTON: Absconding Indian godmanPrakashanand Saraswati, also known as Shree Swamiji, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined USD 10,000 on each of 20 felony counts for groping girls who grew up on the ashram he founded and led in Central Texas.
With the subject of their deliberations still missing and presumed to be on the run, a Hays County jury today sentenced the 82-year-old religious guru to 14 years in prison for each of 20 counts of molesting two girls in his Barsana Dham ashram in Driftwood during the 1990s. ( Read: Hindu guru convicted of molesting girls in US )
For Prakashanand, a religious leader who claims hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide, the lengthy prison sentence represented a dramatic reversal of fortune.
The parent organisation to which his Barsana Dham ashram belongs owns and operates temples and hospitals in India and other countries.
For the women who said the guru kissed and fondled them in the mid-1990s while they were in their teens, the prison sentence represented a satisfying end to a bitter battle against a man they were once told was a living saint and a religious group to which their parents still belong.
Now 27 and 30 years old, the women brought charges against the guru three years ago.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated only a half-hour. Prakashanand didn't show up for the punishment phase of his trial and is still at large.
District Judge Charles Ramsay will decide later whether the guru's prison sentences are to be served concurrently.
Last week the jury found Prakashanand guilty of indecency with a child by sexual contact, based on his repeated groping of two teenagers whose families lived at the ashram he founded southwest of Austin.
Earlier, prosecutors asked the jury to sentence Prakashanand to 20 years in prison -- 400 years total -- for "each and every" one of the 20 criminal counts on which the guru was convicted of molesting the girls.
"This defendant is not a good candidate for probation because he can't even make it to the rest of the trial," said Hays County assistant district attorney Kathy Compton.
The guru's defence attorneys told the court that their elderly client's various ailments -- coronary disease, back pain and hypertension -- make him too infirm to be in prison.
"To put him in a penitentiary setting at his age with these type of physical disabilities would be a death sentence for Swamiji," said Jeff Kearney, his lead attorney.
Spokesmen for the ashram say they don't know where guru is. Peter Spiegel, a wealthy devotee who posted a USD 1 million cash bond for guru's release, testified that he doesn't know his whereabouts, either.
The guru was released on a USD 1 million cash bond but failed to show up Monday in San Marcos for sentencing. The judge then ordered the bond revoked and issued the arrest warrant against guru.
He had already revoked Prakashanand's US passport.
US: Two Sikhs attacked, one dead
WASHINGTON: Two elderly Sikhs were shot at by unidentified assailants in Sacramento in US, leaving one dead and the other in critical condition, triggering panic in the neighbourhood having a sizeable Sikh population.
Surinder Singh, 68, and Gurmej Atwal, 78, residents of Elk Grove in Sacramento, California-- were shot at by unidentified miscreants on Friday evening, when the two went out for their daily evening walk, police said.
Singh, who worked as a truck driver in India andLibya before moving to the US, five years ago, died on the spot.
He is originally from Pandori Ganga Singh village in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab. His funeral has been scheduled for March 12.
Atwal, hailing from Farallah village in Nawanshahr district of Punjab, who moved to the US in 2001, continues to be in critical condition.
Police have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime, but there is no such concrete evidence as yet.
"At present, we have no evidence to indicate there was a hate or bias motivation for this crime; however, the obvious Sikh appearance of the men, including the traditional Dastar headwear and lack of any other apparent motive, increasingly raise that possibility," Elk Grove Police Chief Robert M Lehner said.
Elk Grove Police has made preliminary notification to the local FBI office because bias motivated crimes are a violation of Federal as well as State Law, Lehner said.
A number of Sikhs living in the city, are in a state of panic and have alleged this to be hate crime.
No arrests have been made so far. More than a dozen odd local Gurudrawas at a meeting yesterday announced an award of USD 20,000 to anyone who provides a clue towards the arrest of those responsible for the incident.
They have also appealed to the Sikh community members to try and not wear traditional ethnic 'kurta' and 'payjama' while going for walks or any public appearance, said Gurjatinder Singh Randhawa, chief editor of the regional Sikh newspaper Punjab mail USA.
Both Singh and Atwal were in their traditional Sikh dress during their evening walk when they were shot at.
Surinder Singh, 68, and Gurmej Atwal, 78, residents of Elk Grove in Sacramento, California-- were shot at by unidentified miscreants on Friday evening, when the two went out for their daily evening walk, police said.
Singh, who worked as a truck driver in India andLibya before moving to the US, five years ago, died on the spot.
He is originally from Pandori Ganga Singh village in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab. His funeral has been scheduled for March 12.
Atwal, hailing from Farallah village in Nawanshahr district of Punjab, who moved to the US in 2001, continues to be in critical condition.
Police have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime, but there is no such concrete evidence as yet.
"At present, we have no evidence to indicate there was a hate or bias motivation for this crime; however, the obvious Sikh appearance of the men, including the traditional Dastar headwear and lack of any other apparent motive, increasingly raise that possibility," Elk Grove Police Chief Robert M Lehner said.
Elk Grove Police has made preliminary notification to the local FBI office because bias motivated crimes are a violation of Federal as well as State Law, Lehner said.
A number of Sikhs living in the city, are in a state of panic and have alleged this to be hate crime.
No arrests have been made so far. More than a dozen odd local Gurudrawas at a meeting yesterday announced an award of USD 20,000 to anyone who provides a clue towards the arrest of those responsible for the incident.
They have also appealed to the Sikh community members to try and not wear traditional ethnic 'kurta' and 'payjama' while going for walks or any public appearance, said Gurjatinder Singh Randhawa, chief editor of the regional Sikh newspaper Punjab mail USA.
Both Singh and Atwal were in their traditional Sikh dress during their evening walk when they were shot at.
Two men accused of attacking a Sikh taxi driver in November have entered no-contest pleas in a California court, with one man admitting that his attack was a hate crime.
Pedro Ramirez, 42, of Natomas, pleaded to a felony assault charge in Yolo County Superior Court Monday and admitted that his attack on cab driverHarbhajan Singh in West Sacramento was a hate crime. He also admitted that he caused great bodily injury to the victim.
Johnny Morales Jr, 33, of West Sacramento, who had a lesser role in the attack, pleaded to felony assault, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.
As part of the plea agreement, Ramirez agreed to a 13-year prison sentence, and Morales will be placed on felony probation and will be sentenced to up to one year in county jail.
According to prosecution, Harbhajan Singh, wearing a traditional Sikh turban, was driving Ramirez, Morales and their wives home Nov 28 from Harlow's Bar in Sacramento.
During the cab drive, Ramirez shouted racial epithets and accused Singh of being Muslim, officials said. Ramirez punched Singh in the face approximately 10 times, while Morales punched him from behind.
Singh suffered multiple cuts, a fracture to the orbital bone in his face and a spinal fracture. Ramirez also attempted to pull Singh from the taxi but was prevented by the cab driver's seatbelt.
Ramirez's wife stopped the beating by throwing her body between Singh and her husband. Morales and Ramirez then pulled Ramirez's wife from vehicle, allowing Singh to escape in his cab.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall, who took Ramirez and Morales' pleas, is scheduled to sentence the men April 1.
Pedro Ramirez, 42, of Natomas, pleaded to a felony assault charge in Yolo County Superior Court Monday and admitted that his attack on cab driverHarbhajan Singh in West Sacramento was a hate crime. He also admitted that he caused great bodily injury to the victim.
Johnny Morales Jr, 33, of West Sacramento, who had a lesser role in the attack, pleaded to felony assault, according to a Yolo County District Attorney's Office news release.
As part of the plea agreement, Ramirez agreed to a 13-year prison sentence, and Morales will be placed on felony probation and will be sentenced to up to one year in county jail.
According to prosecution, Harbhajan Singh, wearing a traditional Sikh turban, was driving Ramirez, Morales and their wives home Nov 28 from Harlow's Bar in Sacramento.
During the cab drive, Ramirez shouted racial epithets and accused Singh of being Muslim, officials said. Ramirez punched Singh in the face approximately 10 times, while Morales punched him from behind.
Singh suffered multiple cuts, a fracture to the orbital bone in his face and a spinal fracture. Ramirez also attempted to pull Singh from the taxi but was prevented by the cab driver's seatbelt.
Ramirez's wife stopped the beating by throwing her body between Singh and her husband. Morales and Ramirez then pulled Ramirez's wife from vehicle, allowing Singh to escape in his cab.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall, who took Ramirez and Morales' pleas, is scheduled to sentence the men April 1.
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