Is the Government too Scared to Prosecute Asaram Bapu for his Crimes?

Now in police custody for the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl, self-styled Godman Asaram Bapu is said to have a control of an empire worth Rs 5,000 crore. A coal-seller turned spiritual guru, Asaram has a fan following of more than two crore people across the globe. There are more than 300 Sant Shri Asaram ashrams and more than 1500 Yog Vedanta (sister organisations) across the world.

The Supreme Court on August 28 questioned the BJP government in Gujarat over the slow trial in the rape case involving Asaram Bapu. It has been reported, that the two crucial witnesses in the case had been killed, one was missing and 17 others were injured in various attacks. Out of the 92 witnesses, only 45 of them have been examined so far.

The victim had alleged that Asaram had sexually assaulted her on the night of August 15, 2013. She was living in his ashram in Motera at that time, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Her younger sister has filed a similar complaint against Asaram’s son, Narayan Sai. The two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against the father-son duo that includes charges of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges. One of the sisters has also alleged that Asaram Bapu's wife and daughter were also involved in exploiting the girls.

The apex court had noted that trial in this matter was unnecessarily prolonged and the prosecution witnesses were being attacked, which led to the death of two of them. The court on November 18, 2016, sought the response of the Centre and five other states on a plea, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged murder of the children and attacks on 10 other witnesses in Asaram rape case. The Court had also rejected Asaram’s bail plea and had said that Asaram had placed fictitious documents to seek bail. Following this, the apex court asked the police to file case against those responsible for preparing fake documents.

A teenage girl in Rajasthan had also accused the 76-year-old of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl was a student living in the ashram and hailed from Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

After the 2012 gangrape case, Asaram was reported to have said that the gang rape and murder would not have happened if the victim had called the rapist-killer her brothers and fallen at their feet. “Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim is as guilty as her rapists…[the mistake cannot be one-sided]”, he said.

He was further quoted as saying, that the girl should have taken God’s name and should have pleaded with her rapists by saying ‘brothers, I am helpless. You are my brothers, my religious brothers’, and then the misconduct wouldn’t have happened”.

It may not come as a surprise that the 2013 case was not his first. The question arises of why the ‘sant’ has not been prosecuted before. What kept the government waiting for years to take a step towards delivering justice? Justice is still a far-fetched dream seeing how BJP leaders like Uma Bharati come out in defence of such criminals. Involved in rioting cases herself, not only did she call the ‘sant’ innocent, she claimed that the ‘false’ charges against him were a punishment meted out by the Congress leaders since ‘bapuji’ was against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

The now Prime Minister and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi once sang and danced with him and also visited his ashram in Ahmedabad.

Other BJP leaders, such as the current Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh, is also said to be one of Asaram’s followers. He can be attending the Satsang.

There are various other crucial cases involving ‘bapu’, from Murder to illegal land acquisition, to sexual assault:

• 2008 – Gujarat, Asaram and his Motera ashram
  The controversy involves the deaths of two ten-year-old cousins, Abhishek and Dipesh Vaghela, at the ashram’s Bal Kendra, on 3 July, a month after they were admitted there as students.

  The Commission, appointed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to probe the deaths following the public outcry, has already been censured by the Gujarat High Court for going soft on Asaram and his son.

• Land Grabbing Cases
  In February 2009, the Gujarat government admitted in the legislative assembly that the Asaram ashram had encroached on 67,099 sq. m of land in Ahmedabad.
• Raju Bhai Murder Case
   
• August 2013 – Asaram Bapu and Rape Charge Case
  The girl, who is 16 years of age and from Uttar Pradesh, had made a complaint at a police station in the national capital on August 20, accusing Asaram Bapu of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur.

Asaram has been booked under Sections 376, 342, 506 and 509 of the IPC, Section 8 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
According to the DCP, Shilpi and Keshav had sent the 16-year-old girl to Jodhpur for a ritual to ward off evil spirits for which Asaram had wanted to be alone in the room with the minor on the night of August 15, and Shiva had threatened the girl against disclosing the incident to anyone. 

Asaram's son Narayan Sai, in a controversial statement, claimed that the girl was "mentally unstable". Asaram announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone who proves that the victim was sexually assaulted by him. Asaram also went on to say that he will become the slave of the person who will provide evidence and prove him guilty of the crime.

• September 4, 2013

 The district collector of Surat, Jaiprakash Shivhare, slapped Rs. 17 crores notice on authorities of Asaram                  Bapu’s ashram in Jahangirpura area of the city.

The matter first came to light in 1996, when Asaram grabbed agricultural land in Jahangirpura to develop his ashram. The land of Survey No 103-1, 103-2, and 103-3 was reserved by Surat Municipal Corporation to construct a water distribution centre.

Gujarat High Court (HC) directed the state government to regularize the ashram.
The ashram officials were ordered to pay Rs. 17 crores towards cost of land, regularization fee, and fine for occupying the land. The ashram has thus far paid only Rs30.30 lakh.

They have failed to pay dues to regularize to an illegal structure that was constructed on agricultural land in1996.

• Book of Asaram, ‘Shri Gurugita’ has a controversial 38th verse.

         Published on behalf of Asaram Ashram, on the 14th page of this book, the 38th verse is written is Sanskrit,                which means a devotee should sacrifice his body, senses, life, money, family, kin, and even wife to his guru.
         Source –Book of Asaram, ‘Shri Gurugita’ has a controversial 3 8th verse

Until his arrest, Asaram enjoyed VVIP status at airports. He wasn’t frisked and would drive straight to the aircraft without any checking. After the allegation of sexual assault, he reportedly moved around with bodyguards.

The likes of Sakshi Maharaj, Ram Rahim, Rampal, and Asaram Bapu bring forth a horrifying picture of criminal offenders sitting on top of the political food chain. With the amount of influence they have on the voting base, it comes as no surprise that the governments are too afraid to take stringent actions against them.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.