Swami Premananda (guru)

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 (16 at the time of trial) when they were raped.

[5]: ¶74, ¶90–91 [12][13][14] Premananda was sentenced to double life imprisonment and fined ₹67.3 lakhs for 13 counts of rape, molestations of two girls and murder.

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.

[3] In January 2000, the Madras High Court ordered that ₹36.4 lakhs 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.

[17] On 26 June 2010, however, the same court accepted Premananda's petition requesting a three-month parole to undergo medical treatment.

[19] Premananda died on 21 February 2011 of acute liver failure, while being held in Cuddalore Central Prison.

[20][21][22] On 16 November 2014, Swami Premananda's birth anniversary was observed by his devotees at the residence of C. V. Vigneswaran in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

It was attended by A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, D. M. Swaminathan, a Sri Lankan Tamil 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.

Sri Premeshvarar temple
Swami Premananda's samadhi