Witness testifies in rape case against Asaram

A witness testified in a Sessions court here on Friday in a rape case in which the now-convicted self-styled godman Asaram and his son are accused, informed sources said.

Asaram and his son Narayan Sai are accused of rape by two sisters from Surat in Gujarat. While the elder sister accused Asaram of sexual assault several times at his Motera ashram in Ahmedabad between 1997 and 2006, her younger sister levelled similar charges against Sai.

Asaram, who is lodged in a Jodhpur jail, attended the Gandhinagar court hearing through video-conferencing.

"As the trial court proceedings are held in-camera, we cannot disclose anything about it as per the law. The next hearing is fixed for May 14," counsel R.C. Kodekar said.

Till date, more than two dozen witnesses have got recorded their statements in court while a few others are still to do so. The court proceedings are held in-camera due to security considerations vis-a-vis the witnesses.

Even as Asaram and his son are in jail, six witnesses have been attacked and two of them killed allegedly by the godman's followers.

Charges against Asaram in the rape case, which was transferred from Surat to Gandhinagar, were framed in March 2016. The Gujarat Police had included the names of Asaram's wife Lakshmi and daughter Bharti in the chargesheet.

Four other women were named for helping him in the alleged crime.

On April 25, a Special Court in Jodhpur convicted Asaram for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013 and sentenced him to a prison term for life till his natural death.

The Supreme Court had adjourned Asaram's bail application in April and pulled up the Gujarat Police for its tardy investigations and said evidence must be recorded in the case within five weeks. The apex court has refused Asaram's bail plea several times.

--IANS

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