New Delhi: Jailed Godman Asaram Bapu was on Monday convicted of rape in a 10-year-old case by a Gandhinagar court. The godman was accused of sexual assault by a Surat based woman, who was staying at the Ashram in Ahmedabad’s Motera, about 10 years ago. The godman has been serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail, in a separate rape case. He was accused of sexual assault by a Saharanpur girl during her visits to the Ashram, following which the godman arrested by the police in 2013 and has been in jail since then. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Tuesday. Asaram’s son Narayan Sai, his wife Lakshmi, daughter Bharti & 4 of his followers were also among accused but they were acquitted by the court. Godman lodged in Jodhpur jail Asaram is currently serving sentencing in a Jodhpur jail. In 2018, he was convicted in a separate case of sexual assault. A 16-year-old girl had accused him of rape in his Jodhpur Ashram in 2013. The godman was convicted under Section 376 of the IPC, the Protection of Children under Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. The self-styled godman, with a very humble background rose from the banks of Sabarmati river in early 70s and went on to build an empire with more than 400 ashrams, the worth of which amounts to more than Rs 10,000 crore.
