Gujarat court awards life imprisonment for godman Asaram Bapu; imposes fine of ₹50,000 for repeated rape and sexual exploitation
The Hindu
The 81-year-old self-styled godman Asaram is serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013.
Gandhinagar sessions court sentenced self-styled godman Asaram Bapu to life imprisonment in connection with 2013 rape case filed by a victim who stayed at his ashram, near Gandhinagar, in Gujarat. The court has also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on him.
During the hearing on quantum of sentence, the prosecution submitted that Asaram Bapu was a “habitual offender” and sought life imprisonment for him in the case along with a heavy fine. Sessions court judge D. K. Soni, after hearing the arguments, awarded life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹50,000.
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The 81-year-old self-styled godman with massive following base and hundreds of ashrams, is serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013. On January 31, he was present via a video-link, the same way he had attended the trial all these years.
A Gujarat court had convicted him on January 30, more than nine years after a former disciple of Asaram Bapu lodged a case of rape against him during her earlier stay in his ashram.
It maybe recalled that the victim’s younger sister was raped and illegally confined by Asaram’s son Narayan Sai. Sai was sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Surat in April 2019 in the rape case filed against him by his former disciple in 2013.
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