Self-styled godman Asaram was on Wednesday April 25,2018 convicted by a court in Jodhpur for raping a teenager at his ashram in 2013
Special Judge (SC/ST court) Madhusudhan Sharma delivered the verdict in the Jodhpur Central jail premises.
Earlier, Rajasthan High Court had refused to allow media entry into the Jodhpur Central Jail premises to cover the proceedings. Security has been stepped in Jodhpur where prohibitory orders were clamped as the government tried to avoid a repeat of the Gurmeet Ram Rahim episode.
Apprehending a threat to law and order, the Centre asked Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana governments to tighten security and deploy additional forces as the three states have a large number of followers of the 77-year-old Asaram.
Asaram, the controversial 77-year-old self-styled godman, was today sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2013. Asaram, who was arrested in the case in 2013 and has been in jail ever since, will have to spend the rest of natural life in prison, a Jodhpur court ruled today.
Two other people were also convicted in the rape case; both of them were handed 20-year prison terms each.
Visuals from outsidet he Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram is lodged and where a special SC/ST court today sentenced him to life in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2013
Timeline of the case
- A teenage girl from Shahajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who was studying at his ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, accused Asaram of raping her.
The self-styled godman, however, denied the rape charges.
- The victim has alleged that Asaram called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
- Asaram was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013.
- He is in judicial custody since September 2, 2013.
- The chargesheet against Asaram and four other co-accused Shiva, Shilpi, Sharad and Prakash were filed by the police on November 6, 2013, under various sections of the POSCO Act, Juvenile Justice Act and IPC.
- Final arguments in the Asaram case had been completed by the special court for SC/ST cases on April 7, 2018.
- The court had kept the order reserved for April 25,2018
- Asaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat in which the Supreme Court in April 2018 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 SCI
- The Jodhpur Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Court convicts Asaram on April 25, 2018 in 2013 rape case
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