Prem Kumar (17 November 1951 – 21 February 2011), better known as Swami Premananda, was a Sri-Lankan born Indian religious monk who founded the Premananda

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Life and work

Originally an Indian Tamil from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, Kumar had an ashram and orphanage in his birthplace

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, , , ) is a major city in Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative capital and largest urbanised city of Matale District. Matale is also the second largest urbanised and populated city in Central P ...

. During his years in Matale, Sri Lanka he was popularly known as 'Ravi', meaning 'sun', as he had a radiant face. He moved to India with his followers in 1983 to escape the Sri Lankan Civil War, bringing with him undocumented Sri Lankan orphans who had been in his care. He initially opened an ashram in a rented building in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

, then moved to Fatimanagar in 1989. The ashram there covered 150 acres of land with plantations of flowers, fruit, and teak. The ashram served as a shelter for women and

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

children. In India, he was fondly called 'Kutti Sai Baba' which means little Sai Baba in Tamil as he had a hairstyle similar to that of

Sathya Sai Baba Sathya Sai Baba (born Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju; 23 November 192624 April 2011) was an Indian godman, guru and philanthropist. At the age of 14, he claimed to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba and left his home saying "my devote ...

during his early days. About 200 people lived in the ashram, most of Sri Lankan origin. Branches of the ashram later opened in the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico, and other countries. Sri Premeshvarar Temple

Accusations and trial

In 1994, one of the girls living in the ashram, Arul Jyothi, was said to have escaped and reported that she had been raped and was pregnant. The

All India Democratic Women's Association All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) is a women's organisation committed to achieving democracy, equality and Women's rights, women's emancipation. It has an organisational presence in 23 states in India, with a current membership o ...

provided moral support and legal aid to the victims. On 15 November 1994, the police started an investigation. Two ashram residents also reported that another, called Ravi, had been murdered for attempting to expose the happenings at the ashram. Trial took place in the sessions court in

Pudukkottai Pudukkottai Municipal Corporation is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest Heritage city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different t ...

, presided over by a woman judge, R. Banumathi. Noted criminal lawyer

Ram Jethmalani Ram Boolchand Jethmalani (14 September 1923 – 8 September 2019) was an Indian lawyer and politician. He served as India's Union Minister of Law and Justice, as chairman of the Indian Bar Council, and as the president of the Supreme Court B ...

was among those representing the swami. The defence claimed that Premananda had divine powers and was capable of performing miracles. To debunk this myth, an

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...

was invited into the courtroom. Ram Jethmalani argued that the women had consented to sex. The court noted that in some cases the consent was obtained by deceit, such as promising a cure for ailments such as asthma or by saying that sex with the swami was "service to God". The court also noted that some of the girls had been threatened with dire consequences and that some of the victims were below the

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...

(16 at the time of trial) when they were raped. Jethmalani also said that the trial was unfair because witnesses and the accused had been subjected to police brutality. The alleged murder victim's remains were found buried on the ashram premises and were presented as evidence. DNA samples from Arul Jyothi, her alleged aborted fetus, and Premananda were also introduced as evidence. The prosecution argued that the results established his paternity. The defense hired an expert witness from the UK, Wilson Wall, who took DNA evidence back to the UK and analyzed it; his results were that Premananda was not the father and that analysis by the Indian scientists was mishandled.

Conviction

Premananda was sentenced to double life imprisonment and fined

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

s for 13 counts of rape, molestations of two girls and murder. Failure to pay the fine was to carry an additional term of 32 years and 9 months. He was also convicted of cheating the residents of his ashram, which carried another one-year sentence. Six others were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit rapes and destroying evidence. Five were given life sentences. In view of the severity of the crimes, the judge denied them any future remission of their sentences or amnesty by any state or central government. Premananda appeared unperturbed by the sentences and while talking to reporters, said: "Truth will ultimately triumph".

Aftermath

In January 2000, the

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

ordered that

s from Premananda's frozen accounts should be placed in a fixed deposit for three years and the resulting interest should be paid to the victims as compensation. The original guilty verdict was appealed to the Madras High Court and the appeal was rejected in December 2002. In April 2005, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

rejected an appeal. On 5 February 2009, the Madras High Court rejected a

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

petition, keeping in view the recommendations of the district sessions judge at the time of conviction and the previous Supreme Court order. On 26 June 2010, however, the same court accepted Premananda's petition requesting a three-month parole to undergo medical treatment. As of 2005 a European named Doris was running the ashram who said that Premananda was innocent. In March 1997, Aruljyothy, one of the girls who had been taken away for interrogation, stated in court that the girls' testimony against Swami Premananda had been made under torture.

Death

Premananda died on 21 February 2011 of acute liver failure, while being held in Cuddalore Central Prison. Until his death, he continued to maintain that he was innocent.Daily News, Sri Lanka

Legacy

On 16 November 2014, Swami Premananda's birth anniversary was observed by his devotees at the residence of C. V. Vigneswaran in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka. On 22 February 2015, the Swami Premananda International Conference was held in Colombo. It was attended by

A. T. Ariyaratne Sri Lankabhimanya Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne (; 5 November 1931 – 16 April 2024) was a Sri Lankan activist, founder and president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. He was nominated to the Constitutional Council as a civil representati ...

, founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, D. M. Swaminathan, a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

Cabinet Minister, C. V. Vigneswaran, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, and about 50 delegates from various countries including Argentina, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Nepal, the UK, the US, Sweden, Switzerland, India and Poland.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Premananda, Swami 1951 births 2011 deaths Hindu religious leaders convicted of crimes 20th-century Hindu religious leaders People from Pudukkottai district Indian spiritual teachers Indian Hindu religious leaders Sri Lankan people of Indian Tamil descent People from Matale People from Tiruchirappalli Gurus Refugees by war Indian Peace Keeping Force Sri Lankan emigrants to India