Asaram Bapu sentenced lifetime imprisonment

Asaram who has been convicted under several sections has been sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.

Two of his aides, Shilpi and Sharad were sentenced to imprisonment of twenty years each

Madhusudan Sharma, a special judge at the Jodhpur Schedule Caste And Schedule Tribe Court, today convicted the self-styled godman Asaram and two of his associates for raping a minor girl in August 2013.

Asaram had been booked under Sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 376 (rape), 354A (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 509/34 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman read with Section 36 – acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC, as well as under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

 Earlier in the day, the Court has found Asaram Guilty in connection with the rape case.

Asaram`s involvement was probed in two separate cases - one from Rajasthan and the other from Gujarat.

In the case registered in Rajasthan, a teenage girl from Shahajahanpur of Uttar Pradesh had accused Asaram of raping her at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur on the night of August 15, 2013, while in Gujarat, two Surat-based sisters lodged separate complaints against the self-styled godman and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape.

Security in Rajasthan has been heightened in view of the verdict against Asaram Bapu.

Other states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana — have been asked to step up their security to prevent any untoward incident and deploy additional forces to the sensitive areas, a Home Ministry official said.

To recall, Asaram was taken into police custody in August 2013, following which he was taken to Jodhpur Central jail.

A month later, a potency test was conducted on him and was produced before a Jodhpur court.