Asaram has thousands of followers all over India with plenty of money and muscle strength. (File)
New Delhi:
Self-styled man Asaram Bapu was found guilty of raping a Surat woman at an ashram in Gujarat in 2013, a Gandhinagar court ruled Monday.
Here is a timeline of the lawsuits against Asaram:
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In 2013, a 16 year old girl from Shahajahanpur of Uttar Pradesh accused Asaram raped her at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur on the night of August 15. He was sent to Jodhpur Central Prison the same month, where he filed several bail applications.
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The indictment against Asaram and four others in the November case pointed to blackmail in exchange for sex. Asaram has been placed under Sections 342 (unlawful detention), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal threats) and 509 (insulting the modesty of any woman) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sex Crimes Act (POCSO).
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During Asaram’s time in prison, several key witnesses in the case were attacked or went missing. Asaram’s doctor, Amrut Prajapat, was shot in Rajkot of Gujarat in June 2014. His chef Akhil Gupta and another key witness, Kripal Singh, were shot dead in 2015 in Uttar Pradesh. .
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Mahendra Chawala and Rahul Sachan, two other witnesses, were attacked at Jodhpur court grounds in 2015. They survived and went on to bring down Asaram.
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While in prison, a woman living in Surat filed a lawsuit against Asaram and seven others for rape and unlawful detention, including her son Narayan Sai, his wife and daughter, in October. 2013. This woman accused Sai of crimes sexually assaulted multiple times when she lived at Asaram’s ashram in Surat.
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The FIR, filed at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad, claims that Asaram allegedly raped the woman several times between 2001 and 2006 while she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of the city.
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In April 2018, Asaram was sentenced to life in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh. In addition to the life sentence, he was charged under two other pieces of legislation that put him in jail for another 20 years.
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Before sentencing, security was tight in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana. The verdict in the case was delivered inside Jodhpur Central Jail over fears of possible community violence.
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Last year, Uttar Pradesh police stepped up security for the victim’s family after her father announced a threat to the lives of him and his family members from supporters of the self-proclaimed ‘saint’.
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Asaram has thousands of followers all over India with plenty of money and muscle strength.
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