JODHPUR: A trial court in Jodhpur, has pronounced life term for Asaram who was convicted of raping a teenager from Shahajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Madhusudan Sharma, a special judge at the Jodhpur Schedule Caste And Schedule Tribe Court, had earlier today convicted the self-styled godman and two of his associates – Shilpi and Sharad – in the 2013 case.
Asaram has been convicted under Sec. 376 of IPC and POCSO Act. Co-convicts Sharatchandra and Shilpi have been sentenced to 20 years in jail; two other aides have been acquitted.
Asaram was found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl in August 2013 at his Jodhpur ashram. He has been in jail since 2013 when he was arrested in the case.
Situation peaceful in Jodhpur. No major action by the police, except detention of a few supporters of Asaram. Many supporters were sent back from the railway station and the bus stand.
The sections of the IPC, the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice Act under which Asaram has been convicted are: 370(4), 342, 354 A, 376, 376(2)(F), 376(D), 506, 509/34, 109, 120 B of the IPC, Sections 5 (F)(G)/6, 7/8, 17 of the POCSO Act and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Asaram is also accused of raping another woman in Surat city in Gujarat between 2002 and 2004. The trial in this case is under way.
Asaram was born in April 1941 in a village called Bernai in Sindh region in present-day Pakistan.His family migrated to Ahmadabad city in Gujarat after the partition of India.At the age of 15, Asaram Bapu was married to Laxmi Devi. They have three children; one among them is Narayan Sai, who is an accused in one of the rape cases. In the 1960s, he started practising spiritualism with different gurus – one of whom gave him the name Asaram. He formed his first ashram in 1972 on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Motera town of Gujarat.
