He can do anything to our family: Rape survivor's father on fresh bail for Asaram

Shahjahanpur (UP): With Asaram, who is serving life imprisonment in a rape case, getting fresh interim bail, the survivor's father has said his family now faces increased danger as the self-proclaimed godman "can do anything" to them any time.

The man, a resident of the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, expressed surprise over Asaram being granted bail multiple times and claimed that "he is managing everyone".

The victim was raped at Asaram's Jodhpur ashram when she was a minor (16) in 2013.

The Gujarat High Court on Friday granted fresh temporary bail for three months to Asaram on medical grounds.

Senior advocate Shalin Mehta, representing Asaram, argued that the 86-year-old was suffering from heart and kidney ailments, and the only treatment available to him was ayurvedic 'panchakarma'.

The treatment at a Jodhpur-based ayurvedic facility had only just begun and would take another three months, the lawyer told the court.

"When Asaram was in jail, it was our victory. Now he is managing everyone. I am surprised that the court is repeatedly granting interim bail to Asaram, first for seven days, then 12 days, then two and a half months and now for three months," the survivor's father told PTI.

On January 7, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Asaram till March 31 in this case registered by Gujarat Police.

As the three-month period was coming to an end on Monday, his lawyers moved the high court seeking bail for another three months, starting April 1.

The survivor's father claimed the family had been cheated by their lawyer who did not file an objection to Asaram's bail plea despite getting all the papers ready.

"Even after repeated requests, our lawyer did not file an objection in court. As a result of this, the court again granted him bail for three months.

"We signed all the papers and gave them to the lawyer but he did not file the objection and kept making us run around... he has cheated us," the survivor's father alleged.

He further claimed that ever since Asaram came out of jail, his supporters had been saying that he would not go back. Now, their words are proving to be true, he said.

He said the self-proclaimed godman has been travelling from Jodhpur to Indore, Ujjain and Surat, and meeting his followers.

"What kind of illness does he have? Now the danger to our family has increased. He can do anything to us at any time. Now we are only dependent on God," he said.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Dwivedi said a guard has been deployed at the rape survivor's house and two gunmen have also been given to her.

Apart from this, a CCTV camera, covering the survivor's entire house, has been installed in front of her residence. The local Kotwali police have been instructed to monitor her house while patrolling at night, the SP said.

"Our officers are constantly monitoring the security of the survivor's family," he added.

Asaram was convicted in the rape case in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In 2023, he was convicted by a Gujarat court for raping a woman disciple at his ashram in the Motera area of Ahmedabad.