In the rape case of a Surat-based woman, the Gujarat High Court granted conditional bail of three weeks to Narayan Sai, son of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu on Thursday.
Sai and Asaram both are in jail in connection with rape and sexual harassment cases against them by two sisters based in Surat. Sai is in Surat jail after he was arrested from Haryana in December 2013. The court accepted his bail plea to attend to his mother laxmi Harpalani, who is not keeping well. His father Asaram is currently lodged in a Rajasthan jail since his arrest in September 2013 for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at his Jodhpur ashram.
"The bail order will be applicable from May 4. The accused will be under the police surveillance during the bail period. An officer will be deployed for this purpose," said Justice Paresh Upadhyay, while granting bail to Sai.
Sai' mother is suffering from a spinal cord related ailment and doctors have suggested a surgery. On that basis, Sai submitted application for bail. He has been accused of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005 on the woman who filed a case against him. According to the complainant, she was exploited sexually during her stay at Asaram's Surat Ashram. The police booked Sai under various sections of IPC including rape, unnatural sex, molestation and wrongful confinement.
The complainant's elder sister had lodged a separate case against Asaram for repeated sexual assault from 2001 to 2006 during her stay in his ashram situated near Ahmadabad. Even Asaram's wife and Sai's mother laxmi too was booked by police for abetment. However, she was given bail by a local court later on.