Self-styled godman Asaram has been awarded life in prison after he was found guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago.
Special judge Madhusudan Sharma’s verdict was read out in the Jodhpur Central Jail where 77-year-old Asaram has been kept for over four years, media reports said.
Asaram will be in prison till his natural death, the court pronounced, convicting him under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act. It also imposed of fine of Rs 1 lakh on him, the reports said.
It was the second case of a powerful spiritual leader being convicted of a sexual offence in less than a year.
The godman’s lawyers, who pleaded that he was not guilty, reportedly said they would appeal against the verdict.
Police had stepped up security around Asaram’s ashrams to prevent the kind of violence that was unleashed by followers when another so-called godman, Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, was convicted of rape last August, reported PTI.
Apart from Asaram, two other accused, Sharad and Shilpi — both employees at Asarams ashrams — were handed down 20-year jail terms by the special court hearing cases of crime against children. It acquitted two others, the report said.
In his 453-page judgement, the judge lamented that by his heinous act the godman has “not merely shattered the faith of his devotees in him but has also harmed the reputation of saints among common people”.
