The Godman finally lands in dark alleys of prison
There is a section of people in this nation that can get away with any crime, be it rape, cheating or even murder. These people are the ‘agents’ of god. They wear saffron, and speak ever so enticingly about God and spirituality. They are smooth operators too. They are ‘well connected’ and those connections protect them from being penalized for any crime they’d do. They make property worth thousands of crores and lead a life that may put the richest of the rich to shame. Though they speak about ‘letting go’ and ‘denouncing’ the worldly pleasure, their lifestyle is beyond that of people with worldly needs and greed.
There are lakhs of such Sanyasis in our country. Self proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu is one such ‘spiritual guru’ who led a life of luxury. This man is a pervert sexual perpetrator. He allegedly faces charges of having raped children and killed them too. He was saved so far by his political connections since he was close to the Sangh Parivar. But the SC/ST Court in Jodhpur handed him life sentence in a crime involving the rape of 16 year old girl in 2013, in his Rajasthan Ashram. He was arrested following the complaint lodged by the victim. After hearing the case for the last four years, the court finally decided he is guilty of the crime and pronounced the sentence.
Asaram Bapu who is in the close circles of Sangh, also enjoys close proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited his Ashram many a times. Modi had prostrated many a times before him, proclaiming Asaram is his ‘guru’. When he was the Chief Minister of Gujrat, Modi had also provided good insulation to Asaram against serious misappropriations such as land grabbing and other scandals.
But today, Modi has to beg for forgiveness before the nation for having supported a criminal such as Asaram. This godman would advise all his disciples and followers saying the physical world is a ‘maya’ (illusion) and that one has remain detached from all this. But, funnily enough, he had amassed wealth worth thousands of crores and was leading the most luxurious life. The rooms in his Ashram resembled that of five star hotels. He would engage in illegal activities with girls in those places. And he would rape those who didn’t accept his invitation. There are lakhs of people who adore and worship him. He also had a line of ayurvedic products and luxury items. Shops that sell his merchandise are spread all over the country. And lakhs of disciples are present among foreigners too.
There were rumours that people were getting murdered in his Ashram. But since he was connected to the most powerful people, no officer would dare launch an investigation based on those complaints. His reach is not just to PM Modi, but he was close to Advani and Vajapayee too. A lot of efforts were being made at very high level to protect him and as a result of that, he had remained safe. Even at the stage of inquiry, three out of nine witnesses against murder cases were found dead under mysterious circumstances. Others had suffered various assaults and dangerous attacks on their lives. With all this, Jodhpur court has conducted a detailed enquiry and declared him guilty.
Asaram Bapu would often torture young girls and subject them to pervert sex. After many complaints, he was arrested. A similar case can be recalled in Haryana when Gurmit Singh was arrested and all hell had broken loose around that time. The BJP government in that state had been unsuccessful in controlling the violence and finally army had to be summoned. This was anticipated in Asaram case too and hence tight security was provided before the judgment was pronounced. 77 years old Asaram Bapu is guilty of having violated POCSO, Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All the 12 bail applications stood rejected. Many attempts were made behind the scenes to set him free, but those didn’t pay off.
Asaram has his roots in Pakistan. He was involved in alcohol trade. The he got into the spiritual business. Dressed in white, he gave lectures on spirituality in early 1970s. Then he built a small hut on the banks of Sabarmati in 1972. Gradually his clout increased.
Dead bodies of two children were found in his Motera ashram in 2008. Post mortem reports said the vital organs were missing from the bodies. This led to increased suspicion on Asaram. Later his name figured in land grabbers’ list. Two sisters had lodged cases against Asaram and his son Narayana Sai of sexually assaulting them. With all this, Asaram had managed to increase his activities and amassed wealth nearly to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. He has about 400 ashrams in the country. A big printing press runs under his ownership. His business is spread worldwide.
But today, this ‘high and mighty’ Asaram stands challenged by the court which pronounced him guilty. His disciples were praying for him while the court took a bold step. The govermment must act fast and take his property into possession and create rehabilitation facilities for those who have suffered. There are many such accusations on Baba Ramdev too. Then there are scores of Asarams in Karnataka who have to be probed seriously. Including the one near Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore. A head of a mutt near Sagar is facing charges of repeated sexual assault by one of his disciples. Though he managed to stay out of the jail using his clout, his followers have not yet declared him clean.
Threats were issued to the government and even to the home minister for ordering a probe into the matter of this head of the institution. There are scores of godmen who have had least care for the legal, judiciary system and government. They must be identified, enquired thoroughly and penalized for their crimes.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
