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Prominent Indian Godman held for sexual abuse in US
Published on Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 16:33 in World section
Tags: Godman, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati , New York
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New York: A prominent Hindu religious leader with a worldwide following and a huge ashram complex in the US has been arrested on charges of sexual harassment with minor girls emanating from alleged incidents in the 1990s.
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, 79, founder of Barsana Dham, a 200-acre temple and ashram complex near Austin, Texas, has been accused of groping two underage girls on several occasions between 1993 and 1996.
According to local media reports, detectives began investigating the swami, a votary of the path of devotional love, in August 2007 but indictment on 20 counts of indecency with a child or sexual contact was handed down in April.
Barsana Dham temple vice-president Prabhakari Devi confirmed that their guru was arrested last Thursday at Dulles airport in Washington on his return from Europe where he was receiving medical care.
Denying the charges, the ashram officials said in a statement: "We believe these allegations to be groundless. Shree Swamiji (as he is known) has dedicated his entire life to serving humanity and upholding the tenets of our faith. No one who knows him would ever believe he would do anything such as this."
The swami's followers have been living at the ashram since 1990, practising his philosophy of "divine love consciousness". The ornate temple opened in 1995.
Born in Ayodhya, the swami is a disciple of Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj, a prominent religious leader in India.
He has led the creation of several Hindu centres and temples around the world and has overseen the development of several charitable hospitals in India. A renowned scholar, he has authored many books on Hinduism.
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Devotees in India should know that American law enforcements have treated Shree Swamiji with utmost hunility and respect. Swamiji will
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The media and law enforcements must be commended for their fair and balanced treatment of the case. Nowadays, people are
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Remember the Hindu swami who was arrested in Carribean on charges of molestation, it was later found out that the
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The christian priests have abused countless children & recently (last week), the pope apologized & was prepared to compensate to
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This is preposterous and if there is little shame left in govt. of India, it should protest against this. But
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