The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, granted interim bail to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu till March end in a 2013 rape case on medical grounds noting that he has various age-related health conditions and had suffered two heart attacks.
Godman Asaram, SC
The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, granted interim bail to self-styled godman Asaram Bapu till March end in a 2013 rape case on medical grounds noting that he has various age-related health conditions and had suffered two heart attacks.
Asaram is currently serving a life imprisonment at the Jodhpur Central Jail after being convicted in a 2013 rape of a minor girl.
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Granting interim bail to Asaram, a bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Rajesh Bindal directed that Asaram shall not attempt to tamper with the evidence, and shall not meet his followers after he is released on the interim bail.
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The court further ordered that three policemen would escort Asaram and they would not interfere in his treatment.
The bench in its order said, “We are inclined to grant bail to the petitioner on medical grounds by the end of March. The petitioner shall not make any attempt to tamper with the evidence, shall not meet his followers.”
Asaram had approached the top court seeking bail citing deterioration in his health and the need for advanced medical treatment.
In 2018, Asaram was found guilty by a special court in Jodhpur for crimes including sexual assault, rape and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.’
He was tried and convicted after a 16-year-old girl lodged a police complaint on August 20, 2013, accusing him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur. The victim girl had reported that she was called to his Jodhpur ashram and was assaulted by him on the night of August 15, 2013.
He was tried under the provision of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
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