Gandhinagar court convicts self -styled godman Asaram Bapu in 2013 rape case; check details

Asaram Bapu was accused by a Surat-based woman of repeatedly raping her while she was at his ashram in Ahmedabad's Motera around 10 years ago. The Gandhinagar sessions court will pronounce the punishment in the case on Tuesday.

A Gujarat court on Monday (January 30) convicted self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in connection with 2013 sexual assault case. The godman was accused by a Surat-based woman of repeatedly raping her while she was at his ashram in Ahmedabad's Motera around 10 years ago. The Gandhinagar sessions court will pronounce the punishment in the case on Tuesday.

According to reports, the self-styled godman was charged under sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 354A (sexual harassment), 370(4) (trafficking), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier, Asaram's son Narayan Sai was also accused in the case. Asaram's wife Lakshmi, daughter Bharati, and four female followers -- Dhruvben, Nirmala, Jassi and Meera -- were also accused in the case. All of them were acquitted by the Gandhinagar court.

Presently, Asaram Bapu is currently lodged in a jail in Jodhpur. In 2018, a trial court in Jodhpur convicted him in a separate sexual assault case and sentenced him to jail. He was found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl in his Jodhpur ashram in 2013.

At the time, the 77-year-old godman was convicted under Section 376 of the IPC, the Protection of Children under Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.

In August 2013, Asaram was arrested from Indore and brought to Jodhpur in September, 2013.