AMN
A Jodhpur court today awarded life sentence to self-styled godman Asaram after holding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago.
Special judge Madhusudan Sharma’s verdict was read out in the Jodhpur Central Jail where 77-year-old Asaram has been kept for over four years. The special court for SC/ST cases convicted two other accused, Shilpi and Sharad, and acquitted two, Prakash and Shiva. A senior police official said, the court has awarded life imprisonment to Asaram while the two other convicts have been each sentenced to 20 years in jail.
The chargesheet against Asaram and four other co-accused was filed by the police on November 6, 2013 under various sections of the POCSO Act, Juvenile Justice Act and IPC.
A tight security cordon has been thrown around the jail in Jodhpur where prohibitory orders have already been clamped. Asaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat in which the Supreme Court earlier this month gave five weeks time to the prosecution to complete the trial.