The father of the rape victim in the Asaram Bapu case hailed the Jodhpur court's verdict convicting the self-styled Godman on Wednesday with life term.
"Asaram is convicted and has been given a life term. We have got justice. I want to thank everyone who supported us in this long fight. I also hope the witnesses who were murdered or kidnapped get justice too," the father of the victim told reporters in Shahjahenpur soon after the Jodhpur court announced the verdict on Wednesday morning.
After the verdict was announced in Jodhpur, the victim's father came out of the house to meet the media personal assembled in Shahjahenpur since early morning. He said that it was also the victory of his daughter who had suffered the most during the past four years of the trial. He also thanked the women organisations all over the country and people of Shahjahanpur for supporting them in the time of crisis. Asked about the threat to the family in this case, he said, "Everyone and even the media knows about the threat, forcing our family to stay inside our house under tight police security."
Meanwhile, police in Shahjahanpur are on high alert over the verdict and additional forces have been deployed at the house of the victim. In the morning, Superintendent of Police K B Singh visited the victim's family and assured them all security. The case is related to 2013 when the victim was a 12th standard student and had stayed at the Chindwara ashram of Asaram Bapu. She was 16 yrs of age when the spiritual guru sexually assaulted her on August 15, 2013 and the victim's father lodged an FIR at Kamlanagar police station in Delhi on August 20, 2013. later, the case was transferred to Jodhpur and Asaram was arrested from his Indore ashram on August 30, 2013.
Besides the victim’s father, the principal of the school in Shahjahenpur where Asaram's victim studied was also a much-relieved man with a Jodhpur court pronouncing the self-styled godman guilty of her rape on Wednesday. The teacher, who is also a witness in the case, said he had been facing threats from Asaram's followers to change the child's date of birth to help the Godman evade stringent punishment under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. "There was pressure on me to change the date of birth mentioned by the guardian in the form at the time of admission. The disciples wanted me to show the age to be more than it actually was so as to suit them," he said after the verdict. "But society has a lot of faith in schools and it was my moral duty to live up to it and I fulfilled my responsibility," he added. The principal, whose identity has been concealed, said he had received threatening letters and was sent a packet with cartridges to put pressure on him. The teacher said the security provided to him by the district administration was inadequate in the backdrop of deaths of some witnesses in the case. Three witnesses have been killed and several others attacked and threatened for speaking against the 77-year-old godman. Followers of Asaram and his son Narayan Sai were accused of threatening people who testified against the "guru". "Only one constable has been given to me for my security," the teacher said. "The administration needs to look into it." He termed the conviction of Asaram as the victory of truth and justice.
Meanwhile, the kin of the Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya also welcomed the life imprisonment awarded to self-styled godman Asaram in a rape case. "Asaram is a demon under the garb of sadhu...We are also feeling relieved after the Jodhpur court verdict," Nirbhaya's grandfather said to the media persons in Ballia district on Wednesday afternoon. Nirbhaya's grandfather said that during the tragedy that struck his granddaughter, Asaram had defended the culprits and instead held the girl responsible for it. "We had realised then only that he is actually a demon who was portraying the image of a sadhu," he said. On December 16, 2012, six men had assaulted the 23-year-old paramedic student, later named "Nirbhaya", in Delhi, triggering a nationwide outrage.
Meanwhile reports from Muzaffarnagar confirmed that security has been provided to the family of Akhil Gupta, a witness in the rape case against Asaram Bapu in Surat, who was shot dead in January 2015, ahead of the godman's verdict in Jodhpur. "Security has been provided to the wife and father of Gupta," SP (city) Ombir Singh informed media person in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday morning. Gupta was returning home from his shop on a scooter when the two motorcycle-borne assailant shot at him on Januray 11, 2015.