Gujarat HC rejects Asaram's bail plea in rape case

The Gujarat High Court today rejected the bail application of incarcerated self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a rape case.
Justice A J Desai dismissed the plea in the case filed by a Surat-based woman in 2013.
In July 2014, Asaram had sought bail on the ground that Gujarat Police had already filed a charge sheet. The 72-year- old religious preacher had also maintained the sexual assault case against him had been filed with mala fide intention.
Asaram had further said the rape complaint was lodged 12 years after the alleged crime. The bail petition has said that even after the alleged incident in 2001, the victim had stayed in Asaram's ashram till 2007.

Two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges.
The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of repeated sexual assaults between 2001 and 2006 when she was staying at his ashram near Ahmedabad.
The controversial religious leader is currently lodged in a Rajasthan jail after being arrested in September last for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at his Jodhpur ashram.