Mohamed Ameen Dabhelia – 2018/04/25

An Indian court has sentenced self-proclaimed Indian spiritual guru Asaram Bapu to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2013.

The guilty verdict was handed down amid high security at Jodhpur Central Jail in the western state of Rajasthan.

Associate professor at the Aaliyah University, Ghazala Yasmeen told Radio Islam that Asaram Bapu comes from a modest beginning.

“He’s now the owner of a 10 000 crore empire, he tries to give religious preaching’s, he’s now been convicted of raping a minor girl, and the charges which have been laid against him include trafficking, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, rape and criminal conspiracy.”

Yasmeen says the victim is from a village in Uttar Pradesh, and was a student at one of Asaram’s schools.

“She was called to his private chambers on August 15th, 16th 2013. Since then the girl has shunned from public life, stopped studying, she gave up school.”

Yasmeen adds that the victim and her family are satisfied with the judgement handed down.

However, it is now being reported that Asaram’s legal team will challenge the verdict in India’s High Court.

Listen to the full interview below: