New Delhi, April 24: Ahead of a trial court's verdict in rape case against self-styled godman Asaram, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday issued an advisory to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana to step up security in order to prevent any untoward incident, an official said.
The ministry also is in touch with the states concerned and Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba has spoken to top level administrative and police officials over the issue.
Apprehending a threat to law and order from followers of Asaram, security has been stepped up and prohibitory orders issued in Rajasthan's Jodhpur where a trial court deliver its verdict against him in a rape case on Wednesday.
As per the directions of the Rajasthan High Court, the trial court will announce its verdict in the case in Jodhpur Central Jail premises.
Final arguments in the case had been completed by the special court for SC/ST cases on April 7 and the court had kept the order reserved to be pronounced on April 25.
Asaram was arrested on the complaint filed by a teenage girl from Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur.
The victim, who was studying at Asaram's ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, had alleged that the godman had called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
Asaram was arrested from Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013.
A chargesheet against Asaram and four other co-accused namely Shiva, Shilpi, Sharad and Prakash had been filed by police on November 6, 2013, under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Juvenile Justice Act and Indian Penal Code.
The trial of the case had begun in the district and session court on March 19, 2017, which had been shifted to the special court for SC/ST cases on December 16, 2016.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases. Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
