Gandhinagar court convicts godman Asaram Bapu for raping woman disciple 

A court in Gandhinagar on Monday convicted self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a woman disciple rape case registered against him in 2013. Sessions court judge DK Soni reserved its order on the quantum of sentence for Tuesday.

In the disciple rape case of 2013, the self-proclaimed godman was found guilty by a court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, reported news agency PTI. The Court is scheduled to issue the sentence’s ruling on Tuesday.

The court acquitted six other accused, including Asaram’s wife, due to the lack of evidence. As per the FIR lodged at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad, Asaram Bapu allegedly raped the woman on several occasions from 2001 to 2006 when she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of the city.

“The court has accepted the prosecution case and convicted Asaram under sections 376 2(C) (rape), 377 (unnatural offences) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code for illegal detention, among others,” special public prosecutor RC Kodekar said on Monday.

A Surat-based woman had filed a case of rape and illegal confinement against Asaram Bapu and seven others, one of whom died during the pendency of the trial, in October 2013.

Previously, in April 2018, a Jodhpur court had found him guilty of raping a 16-year-old in his ashram in the city and sentenced him to life behind bars.

The controversial godman is currently lodged in jail in Jodhpur in another rape case.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM