Rape & murdrer case: Sessions court set to pronounce verdict on Asaram; prosecution calls him ‘habitual offender’ | Ahmedabad News
The sessions court is set to pronounce the verdict on Asaram on Tuesday.
This is the second such conviction after Asaram was held guilty first by a Jodhpur court.
Asaram Bapu Guilty: What is the case against him?
While recording conviction of Asaram for rape, sodomy, molestation, illegal detention, using force to illegally confine the survivor and criminal intimidation, additional sessions judge D K Soni acquitted six other accused persons — Asaram’s wife Lakshmi, his daughter Bharti, an office bearer of his Motera ashram Dhruvben Balani, two followers, Nirmala alias Dhel, Mira alias Baglo, and an employee Jassiben.
Asaram is a life convict in a case of sexual assault on a minor and has been lodged in Jodhpur prison in Rajasthan since 2013.
Gujarat Court convicts Asaram Bapu of raping woman who stayed at his ashram
He remained present through a video conferencing facility, the way he had been attending the trial all these years.
His wife was not present in court due to her ill health and hospitalisation in Surat.
During the trial, special prosecutor RC Kodekar examined 68 witnesses.
In his further statement, Asaram termed the rape charges a criminal conspiracy against him.
After he was booked under Pocso charges in Jodhpur and jailed, one of his former devotees turned up in Surat and accused him of raping her in his ashram at Motera in Ahmedabad between 1997 and 2006.
The victim’s younger sister accused Asaram’s son, Narayan Sai, of sexually exploiting her in an ashram in Surat district. Sai too was convicted for rape and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Surat court.
An FIR was registered with Chandkheda police station against Asaram and a special investigation team was formed to investigate the charges.
A chargesheet was filed against Asaram and six others in January 2014.
The investigator gave a graphic description of Asaram’s sexal behaviour and projected him a pervert by citing 101 witnesses.
Six of them — the complainant, her sister from Surat, Akhil Gupta, Varsha Gupta, Mahendrasinh Chawla and a former officer bearer of Asaram’s ashrams Parul Thakkar — had recorded their statements before judicial magistrates under section 164 of the CrPC.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
