A court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar convicted the self-styled godman Asaram, Bapu, on Monday in a rape case filed against him by a female disciple in 2013. DK Soni, a Sessions Court judge, has reserved his decision on the quantum of sentence for today. The court acquitted six other accused, including Asaram’s wife, due to a lack of evidence. According to the FIR filed at Ahmedabad’s Chandkheda police station, Asaram, Bapu allegedly raped the woman on several occasions between 2001 and 2006, while she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of the city. “The court has accepted the prosecution case and convicted Asaram under Sections 376, 2(C) (rape), 377 (unnatural offenses), and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code for illegal detention, among others,” special public prosecutor RC Kodekar said on Monday.
The controversial godman is currently lodged in jail in Jodhpur in another rape case.