Asaram, the high profile Hindu saint got very strong clout with ruling party Bjp and RSS who has 400 ashrams across the world, raped the young girl in 2013.
He is also accused, along with his son, Narayan Sai, of raping two sisters in Surat in Gujarat between 2002 and 2004.
The Supreme Court recently set a five-week deadline for the Surat trial be completed. Asaram received life term, which means he will be in jail for the rest of his life, and was fined Rs. 1 lakh by the court.
Asaram was arrested in Indore in Madhya Pradesh for the Jodhpur case and moved to jail in the desert city. BJP MP Subramaniya Swamy a staunch supporter of Asaram advocated vigorously for Hindu saint bail . Asaram appealed 12 times for bail but was turned down each time.
Hailing the court verdict against self-styled godman Asaram, the victim’s parents said that if one or two such self-styled fake babas are given death penalty they will dare not touch any innocent girl or women again.
Talking to media after the Jodhpur court judgment, victim’s father said that he did not want any compensation for her daughter’s sufferings for the past five years. “The court sentencing him to life imprisonment is biggest compensation to my family. I thank judiciary, media, Police and friends for supporting her and my family during all these difficult years,” said he.
The victim and her family are virtually under house arrest for the last four and half months at their house in Shahjahanpur. “We were constantly facing death threats by Asaram’s men to withdraw the case.
But my entire family stood by my daughter and did not succumb to any pressure. We are all happy that he will spend his remaining life in jail for what he had done to my daughter,” said the father.
Parents of the victim said that they will remain in peace now and will have the freedom to move around after the court’s verdict. Her residence in Shahjahanpur was put placed under heavy security since Tuesday in view of the court order.
CCTV cameras were installed to keep an eye on the area. Visitors and even media were not allowed to enter their house. The Shahjahanpur Police had also deployed heavy security in and around Asharam Bapu’s Ashram, six kms away from the victim's house.
In the last four years since the trial began, the victim, who is now a major, was not allowed to go out of house except when called by the court for recording of statements under heavy security.
“She did not go to school for studies and spent all these years watching TV, reading on internet and doing household work. It was like house arrest and our home had become a jail. More than the rapist we suffered the mental trauma,” revealed her mother.