In a shocking incident, the police recovered a minor girl's dead body from an Alto car parked inside self-styled godman and rape convict Asaram’s ashram in Gonda on Friday.
The 14-year-old girl had gone missing from her house on April 5 and Asaram Bapu Sewa Kendra at Bimour village in Nagar Kotwali area where the body was found is close to her home.
The locals noticed the anomaly on Friday morning after a foul smell emanated from the car. After noticing the body, the Ashram staff alerted the police after which a team led by senior officers rushed to the spot and sent the body for autopsy.The police suspect it to be a case of murder.Meanwhile, a forensic team was also sent to the ashram for investigation.
DIG, Devipatan Range, Upendra Kumar Agarwal said, "The body was sent for autopsy and the next course of action will be taken on the basis of the report.The police said that the car had been parked at the ashram for several days.
On April 5, the girl went missing while playing outside her home. Later, the victim's mother lodged a report at Kotwali police station against three neighbours, charging them with kidnapping.The complainant had a land dispute with the accused.
She also informed the police that her husband was also missing for several years.
"Those who are responsible for my husband's disappearance are also responsible for my daughter's murder," she alleged.
This is not the first case of a dead body being found from Asaram's ashram. In 2008, two girls had disappeared under mysterious circumstances from Asaram's ashram 'Gurukul' in Gujarat. Later their bodies were found on the banks of the river Sabarmati.
Besides, a case of the death of a child was also reported in Gurukul Ashram in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh in 2008. The child's body was found in the toilet of the ashram.
Asaram and his son Narayan Sai were accused of rape by two sisters living in Surat. In this case the elder sister accused Asaram of rape while the younger sister had accused Narayan Sai of rape. The police filed a charge-sheet against Asaram in this case. However, the trial in this case was not held for a long time.
Asaram was also found guilty of raping a minor girl in his ashram by a court in 2013. The victim had alleged that Asaram called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
Asaram has been lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail since 2013. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018. Asaram has filed petitions for bail several times, but every time the court has rejected his plea.
Meanwhile, the difficulty of Asaram's son Narayan Sai has peaked even as he is lodged in Lajpur Jail in Surat. To get out of jail, Narayan presented documents claiming that his mother was hospitalised and he needed bail for her treatment. The High Court ordered the police to examine the bail papers. The police later found that Narayan had obtained bail on the basis of wrong documents. After this, on the orders of the High Court, a case was registered against Narayan Sai at Sola police station in Ahmedabad.