Swami Prakashanand Saraswati Gets 280 Year Prison Sentence for Child Molest But Flees Court, Still at Large

August 7, 2015

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A Hays County fugitive convicted of nearly two dozen counts of child molestation has failed to appear in court and is currently at large.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, also known to his spiritual followers as Swamiji, failed to appear in court on March 7, 2011, and has not been seen since.

The court date stems from a 2007 incident in which three female victims of Barsana Dham, an ashram in northern Hays County, made an outcry to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, alleging they had been abused in the ashram at the hands of Saraswati.

In April 2008, a warrant was secured, and Saraswati was arrested, U.S. Marshals said. He was released on $1 million bond and was barred from the ashram as a bond condition.

In 2011, Saraswati was convicted by a jury on 20 counts of child molestation and was allowed to remain on bond pending the sentencing phase of the criminal trial process. The punishment phase continued as scheduled, and the Hays County Jury sentenced Saraswati in absentia to 280 years and a $200,000 fine.

When Saraswati did not show up for his court date, the Lone Star Fugitive Task force initiated an investigation to find him. They believe with the aid of his close handlers and devotees, Saraswati had crossed over the border into Mexico and fled to India, where it would likely be more difficult to get a high-profile criminal extradited to the United States.

http://www.fugitive.com/2015/08/07/swami-prakashanand-saraswati-gets-280-year-prison-sentence-for-child-molest-but-flees-court-still-at-large/

Trust honoured for educating the girl child

September 01, 2013

New Delhi, (IANS): The Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Education has bagged the Mother Teresa Excellence Award for exceptional work in the field of educating the girl child.

Instituted by the non-profit Economic Growth Society of India, the award honours both individuals and organizations for their contributions to India's economic and social growth.

The award, consisting of a momento and citation of excellence, was presented here this weekend to Vishakha Tripathi, president of the Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat Education that imparts free education to over 5,000 girls from the pre-primary to post-graduation level through its institutions at Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

The students also receive free transportation, including free distribution of bicycles to those who travel long distances, along with free uniforms, school bags, and other school-related requirements.

The institution's aim is to remove any obstacle to girls' education.

The efforts of the institution have been well recognised. In the past year, it received the Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award and the Nari Shakti Award instituted by the Jagran group.

Others recognised with the institution included Sunil Kumar of Astha Speech and Hearing Care, Aditya Mukherjee of Solace Group, Vandita Singh of Certified International Image Consultant, Tushar Mehta of Mangalam Alloys and Anup Talwar of Mindcare Counselling.

"We have instituted the awards to honour individuals and organizations who have made selfless contribution towards growth of India," said G.S. Sachdeva, general secretary of the Economic Growth Society of India.

Those present at the event included V.N. Sehgal, a former director of the Central Forensic Science Laboritory; Acharya Yeshi Phunthosk, member of the Tibetan parliament- in-exile; Surinder Khanna, former cricketer; Mahant Surendra Nath, president of Shri Kaalika Peeth Trust, and Seema Chakraborty of the National Women Council.

Education trust of Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj honoured

May 11, 2013
IANS

Lucknow, May 11 (IANS) Their effort for the uplift of the girl child, especially in the India's rural quarters, has won the Jagatguru Kripalu Parishat Education the prestigious Nari Award instituted by a prominent media house.

The institution, managed by the followers of Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj, was especially recognised for its effort on education in the remote village of Mangarh in Uttar Pradesh that is now an inspiration for many similar endeavours nationally, a statement said.

In this village, some 5,000 girls from all religions are receiving quality education from the primary to doctorate levels, without any doles from the state government -- an effort that has been recognised by iNext, a bi-lingual e-paper of the Jagran Group.

In the past, the story was different.

"Most young girls in this socio-economic set up, either stayed at home to help run the household or were destined to get married at an early age so that the family had one less person to feed," the trust said.

"Despite the fact that the organization draws its inspiration and values from the deep rooted Hindu tradition of Bhakti, this group does not discriminate in any manner on the basis of religion when the question is to help the under-privileged."

The girls also receive free transportation, including free bicycles for those who travel long distances, along with uniforms, school bags and other related requirement at no cost, to remove as many obstacles as possible on their to way to proper education.

The trust runs the Kripalu Mahila Mahavidyalay for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in arts, science, education and computers, an intermediate college, a middle and high school for classes 6-12 and a primary school till class 5.

The educational trust's president Vishakha Tripathi received the award.