81 साल के आसाराम को रेप केस में उम्रकैद: सूरत की शिष्या से आश्रम में किया था दुष्कर्म, 10 साल पहले दर्ज हुई थी FIR

Asaram has been lodged in Jodhpur jail since 2013 for raping a minor.

On Tuesday, 81-year-old Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a Surat woman. Gujarat’s Gandhinagar sessions court convicted Asaram on Monday. Earlier, on April 25, 2018, the Jodhpur court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment for raping a minor in UP. Since then he is lodged in Jodhpur jail.

Case is 22 years old
This rape case against Asaram, who has been in jail for 10 years, is 22 years old. Then in October 2013, an FIR was registered at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad. According to the FIR, the woman was raped several times between 2001 and 2006 at an ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. The woman was then in Asaram’s ashram. The police had filed a charge sheet in the case in July 2014.

There were six other accused including Asaram’s wife.
In this case there were 6 other accused including Asaram’s wife. Court held Asaram guilty. One of the accused had died. The court acquitted the remaining 5 accused due to lack of evidence. Public Prosecutor R.C. Kodekar told that Asaram has been sentenced under section 374, 377. The court has also ordered a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the victim.

Gandhinagar Sessions Court where Asaram was sentenced.

The victim’s younger sister had filed a rape case against Asaram’s son.
The younger of the two sisters filed a rape complaint against Asaram’s son Narayan Sai and the elder sister against Asaram. Due to elder sister’s complaint being transferred to Gandhinagar, Asaram was prosecuted in Gandhinagar, in which the court convicted Asaram on Monday. Public prosecutors RC Kodekar and Sunil Pandya gave this information.

Public Prosecutor RC Kodekar giving information in the Gandhinagar Sessions Court premises.

Had committed rape on the day of Guru Purnima
According to the victim, Asaram raped her on the day of Guru Purnima. Asaram chose him as the speaker on this very day. After this I was called to Asaram’s farm house Shanti Vatika. Another person from the ashram took me to the farm house. Where Asaram washed his hands and feet and called me inside the room.

Later asked me to order a bowl of ghee. After this Asaram asked for head massage. While massaging, Asaram started doing dirty acts. I tried to run away but Asaram assaulted me. After this, Asaram also committed unnatural rape after forcibly raping her.

Deadly attacks on witnesses
On February 28, 2014, the husband of one of the two victim sisters of Surat was attacked with murder. After 15 days, Asaram’s videographer Rakesh Patel was also attacked. A few days after the attack, acid was thrown on witness Dinesh Bhagnani in a cloth market in Surat. All these three witnesses survived the attack. On 23 March 2014, a witness, Amrit Prajapati, was shot dead. Amrit died after 17 days of treatment.

Asaram’s Motera Ashram in Ahmedabad.

A witness was attacked in the court itself
In January 2015, another witness Akhil Gupta was shot dead in Muzaffarnagar. A month later, Rahul Sachan, who worked as Asaram’s personal assistant, was attacked. Rahul, who had come to testify in the Jodhpur court, was fatally attacked in the court premises. Rahul Sachan survived the attack, but went missing on 25 November 2015 and has not been traced since.

The attacks on witnesses continued and on 13 May 2015, Mahendra Chawla was attacked in Panipat. However, Mahendra’s life was saved in the attack. Three months later, another witness, Kripal Singh, 35, was shot dead in Jodhpur. Kirpal Singh testified in favor of the victim in the Jodhpur court.

During the arrest, Asaram was said to have assets worth about 10 thousand crores.

Ashumal became Asaram
Asaram’s real name is Ashumal Harpalani. He was born in April 1941 in Berani village of Sindh, Pakistan. After the partition of 1947 the family settled in Ahmedabad. In the 1960s, Asaram made Leelashah his mentor. Asaram claimed that the Guru had given him the name Asaram instead of Asumal. In 1972, Asaram built his small hut on the banks of the Sabarmati River near Motera village, ten kilometers from Ahmedabad.

Built an empire of ashrams in two-three decades
In the beginning, Asaram attracted the poor, backward and tribal people of Gujarat’s villages with his ‘lectures, indigenous medicine and bhajan-kirtan’. Later, gradually its influence started increasing in the middle class of the urban areas of Gujarat. In the initial years, free food was given in the name of Prasad after Asaram’s lectures.

The number of followers of Asaram started increasing gradually and his ashrams started opening in many cities of Gujarat and also in different states of the country. In two-three decades, Asaram and his son Narayan Sai together had established an empire of 400 ashrams in the country and abroad. As the number of ashrams and followers increased, Asaram’s wealth started increasing. His assets were said to be around 10 thousand crores.

Other ongoing cases against Asaram

Also read these news related to Asaram:

Got rape threats when she spoke against Asaram: Quit air hostess job, fought for Nirbhaya’s justice

It breaks my heart when I hear about the rape of a 4- or 6-year-old girl in some corner of the country. I can’t sleep many nights. Most of the victims are from poor families. When their parents come to us pleading for help, our tears mix with their tears. Read full news…

Asaram sex addict in IPS book: Used to select girls by giving them fruits; A video was not presented by the police, on the same basis the case again reached the court

Gunning for the Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapuj’s Conviction… A line written in this book has once again brought Rajasthan’s most popular Asaram case into the limelight. On the basis of this one line, the lawyers of Asaram, convicted of raping a minor, have filed a bail application. This book has been written by Ajay Pal Lamba, the IPS officer who arrested Asaram (Asumal Harpalani). Read full news…

Asaram’s ashram in Surat.