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A Jodhpur trial court will deliver its verdict on the Asaram Bapu rape case on Wednesday amid tight security. The Rajasthan high court has asked the trial court to deliver its verdict within the jail premises.
Jodhpur Police said that Section 144 will be imposed in the area until April 30, according to an ANI report.
“It cannot be said that [Asaram’s] followers will not create hurdle or unhealthy atmosphere which may create not only hardship and inconvenience to the public at large of Jodhpur city but also law and order problem,” the court said.
Who is Asaram Bapu?
Asumal Sirumalani, known as Asaram Bapu by his followers, was a religious leader in India. After starting to preach in the early 1970s, he went on to establish over 400 ashrams in India and abroad and has numerous followers.
According to Sant Asaram Bapuji ki Jeevan Jhanki, an auto-biography published by his ashram, the spiritual leader received formal education until his father's death and had studied only until class III. In the following years, he had lived at a series of ashrams and ran away from home to an ashram in Bharuch at the age of 15.
The book also talks about Lilashah, a spiritual guru, who accepted him as her disciple and named him Asaram Bapu on 7 October 1964.
The rape charges against Asaram Bapu
It was in August 2013 when a 16-year-old had accused Asaram Bapu of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur. The girl, who reportedly visited one of his ashram's to cure her from evil spirits, said in her complaint that she was asked to perform oral sex and was touched inappropriately.
The complaint was filed in Delhi and Asaram was called for interrogation by the Delhi police, but when the self-styled godman did not appear until August 31, the police booked him under multiple non-bailable sections of IPC.
To avoid arrest, Asaram remained inside one of his ashrams in Indore. Clashes broke out between his disciples and the policemen, but he was eventually arrested by the Jodhpur police on September 1, 2013.
Since then the godman has been lodged at the Jodhpur jail as his bail pleas have been rejected six times.
In November 2013, the Jodhpur police filed a chargesheet against Asaram and four co-accused in the rape case.
Trial in the case began in early 2014.
It is also alleged that Asaram had video-recorded his sexual acts with several women to blackmail them into granting him further sexual favours.
He was booked under Sections 342, 376, 506 and 509 of the IPC, as well as under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
In February 2014, the judge hearing the Asaram rape case dropped Section 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which pertains to exploitation of juveniles/child labour.
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