Edited By: Pritha Mallick
Last Updated: January 31, 2023, 4:52 PM IST
File photo of Asaram Bapu. (Image: PTI)
The prosecution told the court that Asaram Bapu was a “habitual offender” and sought life imprisonment or 10 years of jail for the styled godman in the case along with a heavy fine
A court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar on Tuesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, convicted in a rape case filed by a former woman disciple in 2013, to life imprisonment.
Sessions court judge D K Soni pronounced the ruling after hearing the arguments on the quantum of the sentence.
The sentence came a day after Asaram was convicted of raping a Surat-based woman disciple on several occasions when she was living at his ashram near Ahmedabad. As per the FIR lodged in Ahmedabad on October 6, 2013, against Asaram and six others, the self-styled godman had raped the woman disciple, on several occasions from 2001 to 2006 when she was living at his ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad before she managed to escape.
The court convicted Asaram under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 2 (C) (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 342 (wrongful detention), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 357 (assault) and 506 (criminal intimidation), in the case lodged by his former woman disciple in 2013.
The 81-year-old is currently lodged in a Jodhpur jail, where he is serving life sentence in another case of raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013.
Asaram ‘Habitual Offender’
The prosecution on Tuesday told the court that Asaram was a “habitual offender” and sought life imprisonment or 10 years of jail for the styled godman in the case along with a heavy fine. “There is a provision of maximum life imprisonment or 10 years in jail for the offence for which Asaram has been convicted by the court. But, we have argued that he has already been convicted in another similar case in Jodhpur, and hence he is a habitual offender,” public prosecutor RC Kodekar said.
“We have submitted before the court that Asaram should get the strictest punishment for the way he kept the victim captive, raped and sodomised her and forced her to remain confined in the ashram. We told the court that he should be given life imprisonment. The court should also impose a heavy fine on him, including compensation to the victim,” he added said.
The defence lawyer had earlier stated it has no objection to 10 years’ imprisonment to the jailed godman.
The court had acquitted six other accused, including Asaram’s wife Laxmiben, their daughter, and four disciples who were accused of aiding and abetting the crime, for want of evidence, the prosecution said.
Notably, the victim’s younger sister was raped and illegally confined by Asaram’s son Narayan Sai, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment by a Surat-based court in April 2019 in the rape case filed against him by his former disciple in 2013.
The victim and her sister mustered the courage to legally file charges against Asaram Bapu and Narayan Sai, who have a huge following and run a network of ashrams in India, after Asaram was arrested by the Rajasthan Police in August 2013.
A court in Jodhpur, on April 25, 2018, sentenced Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a minor in his ashram in 2013. His two accomplices were sentenced to 20 years in jail by the court in the same case for their roles.
In December 2021, the Gujarat High Court rejected Asaram’s bail plea in the rape case, which he challenged in the Supreme Court.
(With inputs from PTI)
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