Jaipur: Self-styled godman Asaram was convicted of raping a minor girl and sentenced to life imprisonment till death by a Pocso court in Jodhpur on Wednesday.
Asaram, 77, after the sentence was pronounced said, “Jaisai uparwale ki marzi (It’s god’s wish). We (sic) will stay here in jail.”
His legal team was expected to file an appeal in High Court on Wednesday. According to sources, Asaram was restless the entire Tuesday night and got up early on Wednesday morning.
In the verdict pronounced at a specially-convened court inside Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram has been lodged for the last five years, additional sessions judge Madhusudan Sharma also convicted two of Asaram’s accomplices — Shilpi and Sharad, who were hostel wardens in Chindwara.
They were given 20 years jail term each for same charges in addition to Section 109/120B, Section 7/8 read with Section 17 of Pocso Act. Two other co-accused in the case, Shiva and Prakash, were acquitted by the court.
Prosecutor Pokar Ram Bishnoi told reporters soon after the court pronounced its judgement that Asaram would be in prison till his natural death. The court, he said, had also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Asaram.
Asaram was arrested from Indore in August 2013, after a teenage girl from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, filed a police complaint accusing him of raping her at his Jodhpur ashram. The victim was a student at Asaram’s ashram.
