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PlanetOut News Staff
Wednesday, October 25, 2000 / 06:56 AM
By day one of Britain's leading Hindu priests, by night he socialized at gay venues, so police are seeking help from both worlds as they investigate his murder.
Leicester police are seeking information from the local gay community in the October 21 murder of one of Britain's leading Hindu priests, Harish Purohit, 42. Although Purohit had a full life as a happily married man, social worker, priest at the Shree Shakti Mandir temple, president of the Hindu Federation, and secretary of the National Association of Hindu Priests, he liked to spend evenings with his many gay male friends in gay venues. This was known to his wife, Anjana Joshi, but was not a problem for her. It's been a surprise to his Hindu associates. His younger brother Jai denies that Purohit was gay. Without speculating on his actual sexual activity, police described him as leading a "double life" and say they need help from his associates in both areas, promising to handle it sensitively. More than one hundred officers have been assigned to the investigation.
Purohit, who was born in Kenya but came to England with his parents as a child, was last seen late October 20 in the Belgrave district driving his car. His body was discovered on the morning of October 21 in a house owned by his family which was vacant while undergoing renovation. Neighbors called the family when they saw smoke leaking out around the door. His father and younger brother found his body lying near the door with thirteen stab wounds in the neck, back and legs, including the fatal blow to a lung. In what seems to be an attempt to destroy evidence, a fire had been set in a downstairs room, gas taps turned on, and the door blocked by a sofa. There was no sign of forced entry, suggesting he may have known his assailant. Purohit's car was found, locked, within a mile of the house. Police are trying to trace his movements on his last night.
Joshi, 40, appeared unexpectedly at the police news conference October 23 and said, "He was one of the best-loved and respected priests in the country. He was a truly godly person. He took away the darkness and brought in the light wherever he was. He always wanted to help people and never wanted anything in return. He was an incredible person and gave people inspiration and hope for the future." Her own hope for the future is that she will prove to be pregnant with his child, as the couple had undergone fertility treatment. She has been staying in Manchester, where she works as a solicitor, seeing Purohit only on the weekends. Neither she nor other family members can suggest anyone who might have wanted to harm him.
Purohit once publicly objected to the use of the name Kali by a London gay and lesbian club, the Daily Telegraph reported. He was quoted then as saying, "I have nothing against gays and lesbians but people are trampling all over the image of the Goddess."
Homosexual acts are not punished in Hindu religion, but like heterosexual acts they are a distraction from the path to enlightenment, so it is recommended that sexual activity be restricted to purposes of procreation. The famed Kama Sutra does make reference to oral-genital contact between males.
Source : Obtained from
planetout.com
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