Lankan "Godman" bamboozles Tamils in Tamilnadu

In a sensational judgement, controversial godman Premananda was convicted on August 20th 1997 of rape and murder and awarded double life imprisonment and a cumulative fine of Rs.66.4 lakh. Pudukottai District and Sessions Judge R Banumathi also ruled that the 46-year-old godman should undergo the life sentences consecutively. He should undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of 32 years and nine months if he failed to pay the fine, the judge added.

Premananda, a Kandyan Tamil from Sri Lanka who set up an 'ashram` near Tiruchi in the mid-`80s, was found guilty of raping 13 inmates of his ashram and murdering a disciple, Ravi. The victims were all Sri Lankan Tamils. Along with Premananda, his chief disciple Kamalananda was also awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.12,500 for abetting the crimes and tampering with evidence. The judge said Kamalananda should undergo a further threeyears` RI if he failed to pay the fine.

Kamalananda`s wife, Dr Chandradevi, was found guilty of performing abortions on the rape victims and was sentenced to imprisonment for two years and seven months. But, as she had already spent that period as an under trial, the judge ordered that she be set free upon paying a fine of Rs.30,000. The judge also awarded life sentence to four other co-accused, all disciples of Premananda.

They were - Balendran, Mayilvahanan, Nandakumar and Satish. While Balendran was fined Rs.10,000, others were ordered to pay Rs.12,000 each. The judge said the fines collected should be used to pay compensation of Rs.5 lakh each to the 13 rape victims. The judge said the convicted prisoners would not be entitled to any remission considering the heinous nature of the crimes committed.

The judge delivered the verdict in a packed court hall where the godman and other accused were produced. Activists of some women`s organisations raised slogans against the godman when he was brought to the court. As many as 49 prosecution witnesses and 64 defence witnesses were examined in the case which came to light after one of the victims, Sureshkumari, escaped from the ashram and exposed the sex scandal in early 1994.

Prominent among the prosecution witnesses was forensic expert Jayaprakash who established the identity of murder victim Ravi from a skull recovered from the ashram. The prosecution also roped in as witnesses several doctors in Tiruchi and Pudukottai who had attended on the girls raped by Premananda.

One of the victims, Aruljothi, became pregnant and a DNA test done in Hyderabad established that Premananda was the culprit. Noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani appeared for Premananda who was arrested along with eight others in November 1994. Two of the accused later turned approvers.

Premananda later told newsmen that he would appeal against the judgment. But the Suprreme Court later turned down his appeal.

Divyadevi, one of the principal disciples of Premananda, escaped immediately after the scandal came to light and her properties worth Rs.80 lakh were attached to the court. She is still untraced.

But it is remembered the godman was in a defiantly jovial mood after the judgment, as he smiled at photographers while being taken back to prison, and said: ''Truth will ultimately triumph.`` 'Swami` Premananda`s sordid story unfolded in the middle of November 1994, when the girls he had raped came out with startling revelatory interviews to a leading English daily. The girls had sought shelter with the help of some women activists at 'Udavum Karangal`, a charitable organisation in Chennai.

The interviews created a sensation, and the then AIADMK government, already plagued by a whisper campaign that the disgraced 'hermit` was close to some of the ministers, swung into action within days.

The Crime Branch-CID of the state police raided Premananda`s ashram at Viralimalai near Tiruchirappalli and arrested Premananda and others. But Divya, a mysterious associate of Premananda, who was known to the ashramites as Divya Mataji, managed to give the slip to the police, as she was abroad when the scandal broke out.

Premananda, whose real name was Ravi, settled down in India in the early 1980s after fleeing Sri Lanka as a refugee. With the help of some close friends, he set up the ashram in sylvan environs. Nothing in the ashram`s external appearance suggested the sordid goings-on inside.

An epoch making 408 page judgment by judge R. Bhanumathi finally put an end to a case of debauchery of the self proclaimed "celibate" godman, Swami Premananda.

A straight case of establishing paternity through a standard DNA test was complicated by people and courts. The other crimes committed by the godman too came out as major revelations that spanned a three-year court trial finally culminating in a sentence of life imprisonment for two terms and a hefty fine of Rs. 66,40,000.

It is said he was involved in the rape of 13 girls in his ashram near Tiruchirapalli. Cases such as these are eye-openers and throw up a lot of issues to debate about people's gullibility, indisputable scientific evidence, awe about expert opinion.

The unassailable evidence provided by the DNA finger printing conducted by Dr. Lalji Singh, Deputy Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), and currently, officer on special duty at the Center for DNA Finger Printing and Diagnostics (CDFD) established the 45 - year old Swami Premananda as the biological father of the foetus as a result of rape of 19-year-old Arul Jyothi.

Deccan Herald