A Gandhinagar sessions court on Tuesday sentenced self-styled godman Ashumal Harpalani alias Asaram Bapu to life imprisonment on charges of rape and unnatural sex, a day after the court had held him guilty of the offences. On the quantum of sentence, the prosecution had demanded that Asaram be given the maximum imprisonment of life imprisonment and had also cited his April 2017 conviction and life imprisonment sentence by a Jodhpur court to establish that he was a habitual offender.
The court has also ordered that the accused pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the complainant, as was sought by the prosecution, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in the case R C Kodekar said.
The court of sessions judge D K Soni held Asaram guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (2)(c) (being on the management or on the staff of a place of custody established by or under any law for the time being in force or of a woman’s or children’s institution takes advantage of his official position and commits rape on any inmate of such place) and 377 (unnatural sex). The court sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment for these two offences and imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 each for each of the offences, Kodekar said.
Asaram was also held guilty for offences under sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 354 (assault with intent to outrage modesty of woman) and 357 (assault to wrongfully confine a person) of the IPC.
Kodekar said that the court took into consideration the prosecution’s argument that “the offences are not only crimes against women, but crimes against society which has resulted in women not feeling safe in the society”.
The court acquitted five other accused of all charges, including Asaram’s wife Laxmi Harpalani, Nirmalaben Lalwani, Miraben Kalvani, Dhruvben Balani, and Jashvantiben Chaudhary.
The case pertains to 2013 when an FIR was lodged at Chandkheda police station in Gandhinagar jurisdiction at the time. A 33-year-old woman had filed a complaint saying she was raped by Asaram in 2001 and was frequently molested and sexually assaulted by him in connivance with his ashram managers.
