An Indian spiritual guru with millions of followers was sentenced to life in prison today after being found guilty of raping one of his followers who he held captive for five years.
Asaram Bapu (81) was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman several times between 2001 and 2006 at his monastery in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Today, a court in Gandhinagar sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment and ordered the self-proclaimed guru to pay a fine of 23,000 rupees (£228) and 50,000 rupees (£496) in compensation to the victim.
Asaram is already serving a life sentence after being found guilty of raping another devotee, then 16, at his Rajasthan ashram in 2018.
Asaram Bapu was sentenced to life in prison today after raping one of his followers whom he held captive for five years. Pictured: Asaram outside court in 2016
The guru raped the 16-year-old while her parents waited outside his room and recited prayers while he “healed” her. He threatened to kill the girl’s parents if she told anyone.
In the latter case, a woman told the police in 2013 that Asaram raped her several times at his ashram in the town of Motera, where he held her for five years before she managed to escape.
Today, Asaram, who has millions of followers and more than 400 ashrams in India, was found guilty of raping and illegally detaining the woman.
In 2019, Asaram’s son, Narayan Sai, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and illegal imprisonment of the same woman’s younger sister.
The woman reported a rape to the police in 2013 after Asaram was arrested in another assault case.
Asaram Bapu (81) (photo 2013) was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman several times between 2001 and 2006 at his monastery in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
In that separate case, two of Asaram’s followers accused him of raping their 16-year-old daughter.
They said the guru forced the girl to have sex with him at his ashram in the Rajasthan city of Jodhpur and threatened to kill her family if she told them about the abuse.
In 2018, Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping the teenager in 2013.
He has been the focus of a number of controversies over the years.
In 2013, he sparked outrage after he said Jyoti Singh, who was gang-raped by six men on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 before dying of her injuries, was partly responsible for her own assault.
Asaram said the 23-year-old medical student, whose gang-rape sent shockwaves across India, was “as guilty as her rapists”.
He added that if she wanted to save her own life, she should have been kinder to her attackers.
“The victim is just as guilty as her rapist,” he said at the time. “She should have called the perpetrators’ brothers and asked them to stop it.”
Source link
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
