Asaram given life sentence by Gujarat court in 2013 rape case

On Tuesday, a court in Gandhinagar issued a life imprisonment sentence to self-proclaimed spiritual leader Asaram Bapu, who was found guilty of raping a former female follower in a case dating back to 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.

Sessions court judge D K Soni pronounced the ruling after hearing the arguments on the quantum of sentence.

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The court on Monday convicted Asaram in a case registered in 2013 for raping a woman disciple, who hailed from Surat, on several occasions from 2001 to 2006 when she was living at his ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad.

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 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.

(With agency inputs)