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Gujrat: A court in Gandhinagar today sentenced controversial godman Asaram Bapu to imprisonment for life in a decade-old case in which he was convicted for repeatedly raping his female disciple for over five years.
Additional Sessions Judge DK Soni pronounced the order today.
Confirming the development, special public prosecutor RC Kodekar told Bar & Bench,
“The convict has been sentenced to life term for rape and unnatural sex. He is further sentenced to 1 year for outraging modesty of the victim. A fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed on my client besides Rs 50,000 as compensation to be paid to the victim.”
Asaram was, on Monday, convicted for offences under Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 346 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destroying evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at Chandkheda police station in Ahmedabad, the survivor was allegedly confined by Asaram in his Asharam at the outskirts of Surat city and was raped repeatedly from 2001 to 2006.