Gujarat High Court To Hear Asaram Bapu's Appeal Against Rape Conviction From April 2 (Photo on X Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu @asharamjibapu_ )
The Gujarat High Court has decided to hear the appeal of 85-year-old self-styled godman Asaram Bapu against his conviction in a 2013 rape case. The hearing is set to commence on April 4, reported Bar and Bench. The decision to hear the appeal, noting the age of the convict, was taken by the division bench comprising Justices AS Supehia and Vimal Vyas. The convict had filed a plea to suspend his prison sentence in the case for raping his female disciple at his ashram in 2013.
Asaram Babu was convicted for crimes under Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 346 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destroying evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
While hearing the plea, Justice Supehia said that the Court would hear the main appeal first instead of his petition for the suspension of sentence, noting that the man has undergone 10 years in prison and is 85 years old. “He has undergone 10 years in prison and is 85-years-old. We will hear the main appeal itself instead of his plea for suspension of sentence,” Justice Supehia said.
Asaram Bapu had also filed a petition challenging his conviction in the rape case claiming that the entire case against him was fake and fabricated. He stated that the case was a conspiracy against him hatched by the prosecution witness. The witness appeared to be unhappy with the working of his Ashram, he claimed.
“Most witnesses were thrown out from the Ashram in the year 2004 due to his activities in contravention to the ideology of Ashram and thereafter, they have tried to defame the image of Ashram and also tried to falsely implicate the applicant in false cases,” the plea stated.
The petition also noted that Ashram Babu’s age when the alleged rape happened was 64 and the 21-year-old victim could have easily run away to save herself. The FIR registered at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad says that the victim was allegedly confined in the convict’s Asaram and was repeatedly raped from 2001 to 2006.
