Asaram to spend life in jail for raping minor : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Asaram to spend life in jail for raping minor

JODHPUR: A Jodhpur court on Wednesday awarded life sentence to self-styled godman Asaram after holding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago, the second case of a powerful spiritual leader being convicted of a sexual offence in less than a year after Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim last August.

Asaram to spend life in jail for raping minor

Jodhpur court awards life imprisonment to self-styled godman Asaram for raping a minor.



Tribune News Service 

Jodhpur, April 25

A Jodhpur court on Wednesday awarded life sentence to self-styled godman Asaram after holding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago, the second case of a powerful spiritual leader being convicted of a sexual offence in less than a year after Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim last August.  

Asaram reportedly broke down when he was given the life term.

Special judge Madhusudan Sharma's verdict, which comes as the debate over sexual violence, particularly the rape of minors, intensifies across the country, was read out in the Jodhpur Central Jail where 77-year-old Asaram has been kept for over four years.

The special court for SC/ST cases convicted two other accused, Shilpi and Sharad, and acquitted two, Prakash and Shiva.

"The court has awarded life imprisonment to Asaram while the two other convicts have been each sentenced to 20 years in jail," a senior police official said. 

Arguments for the quantum of sentencing were earlier held inside the heavily fortified jail premises, where the trial court delivered its verdict in accordance with the directions of the Rajasthan High Court.

Asaram, who started from a hut on the banks of the Sabarmati, created a Rs 10,000 crore empire with 400 ashrams in India and other parts of the world in four decades.

The chargesheet against Asaram and the four other co-accused was filed by the police on November 6, 2013 under various sections of the POSCO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Indian Penal Code. 

The teenager had said in her complaint that Asaram had called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.

The young girl from Shahajanpur in Uttar Pradesh was studying at Asaram's ashram in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

"We had complete faith in the judiciary and are happy that we got justice," her father told journalists after the verdict.

The family, he said, was living in constant terror and their business was hit.

Ahead of the verdict, security was stepped up in Jodhpur where prohibitory orders were imposed.

Apprehending a threat to law and order, the Centre had asked Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana governments to tighten security and deploy additional forces as the three states have a large number of Asaram followers.

The Union Home Ministry had sent an advisory fearing a repeat of the violence in Punjab and Haryana that followed the conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in August last year, when several people were killed. He was convicted in a 2002 rape case and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Final arguments in the Asaram case were completed on April 7 and the court had kept the order reserved for April 25.

Asaram was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He was under judicial custody since September 2, 2013. Asaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat in which the Supreme Court earlier this month gave five weeks time to the prosecution to complete the trial.

Asaram unsuccessfully moved 12 bail applications, of which six were rejected by the trial court, three by the Rajasthan High Court and three by the Supreme Court.  with PTI inputs   

 

 

Top News

Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in UP's Banda orders judicial inquiry into death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari

Judicial inquiry ordered into death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari

Asks additional CJM to conduct probe into Mukhtar Ansari's d...

Cash-strapped Congress gets fresh IT notice of Rs 1,700 crore, say party insiders

Cash-strapped Congress gets fresh I-T notice of Rs 1,800 crore

Ajay Maken addresses a press conference

Special court convicts 7 people in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case

Special court convicts 7 people in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case

The proceedings against Atiq Ahmad, his brother and prime ac...

Arvind Kejriwal's wife releases WhatsApp number for people to send messages for jailed AAP leader

Arvind Kejriwal's wife launches WhatsApp campaign to garner support for AAP leader

In a digital media briefing, Sunita says her husband has cha...


Cities

View All