New Delhi - Two other accused jailed for 20 years each.
Published: Wed 25 Apr 2018, 7:18 AM
Updated: Wed 25 Apr 2018, 5:56 PM
The Jodhpur Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe Court on Wednesday sentenced Asaram Bapu to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl. Two other accused, Shilpi and Sharad, were sentenced to 20 years each in jail.
Five years after charges of rape were levelled against Bapu, the Jodhpur court had earlier on Wednesday convicted Bapu along with others accused in the case.
The judgement in the case for raping a minor was pronounced by Judge Madhusudan inside the Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram is lodged.
He has been convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act.
He is facing trial in two sexual assault cases: one here in Rajasthan and the other in Gujarat.
Security stepped up across three states
Apprehending a threat to law and order from followers of Asaram, security has been stepped up and prohibitory orders issued in Rajasthan's Jodhpur where a trial court deliver its verdict against him in a rape case on Wednesday.
As per the directions of the Rajasthan High Court, the trial court will announce its verdict in the case in Jodhpur Central Jail premises.
Final arguments in the case had been completed by the special court for SC/ST cases on April 7 and the court had kept the order reserved to be pronounced on April 25.
Asaram was arrested on the complaint filed by a teenage girl from Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur.
The victim, who was studying at Asaram's ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, had alleged that the godman had called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
Asaram was arrested from Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013.
A chargesheet against Asaram and four other co-accused namely Shiva, Shilpi, Sharad and Prakash had been filed by police on November 6, 2013, under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Juvenile Justice Act and Indian Penal Code.
The trial of the case had begun in the district and session court on March 19, 2017, which had been shifted to the special court for SC/ST cases on December 16, 2016.
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