‘Asaram may organise revenge killing if granted bail’: Rape victim’s father moves SC

Apprehending threat to the life of family members father of the child rapevictim has moved the Supreme Court on Thursday opposing the bail plea of selfstyled godman Asaram BapuThe application for intervention has been filed in the pending petition of Asaram in which he has sought suspension of his sentence and interim bail to undergo treatment for various ailments at an ayurvedic centre near Haridwar in UttarakhandA Jodhpur court on April 25 2018 had sentenced Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram in 2013Also Read Uttarakhand govt may open Chardham Yatra in phased mannerldquoIt is humbly submitted that the petitioner Asaram is highly influential and politically connected and has a force of millions of blind followers around the country and also a hired killer Kartik Haldar who killed and attacked eyewitnesses confessed to the Police that Petitioner ordered the killingsrdquo the father of rape survivor said in the applicationHe said that till now 10 eyewitnesses have been attacked and in all likelihood if Asaram is granted bail he may organise revenge killing of the child rape victim and her family and eyewitnesses of case pending at Surat GujaratldquoRecently also the applicant herein has been threatened by the followers henchmen of the petitioner Asaram and shockingly the State of Uttar Pradesh has reduced the security of the applicant and his family and they are again very vulnerable to murderous attacks by the followershenchmen of the petitionerrdquo the application saidThe plea filed through advocate Utsav Bains said that in case Asaram is admitted to interim bail there is likelihood that out of vengeance he may get the applicant his daughter and his family members killedldquoThe petitioner Asharam herein has no regard to the rule of law and indulged in getting the prosecution witnesses threatened or eliminated who stood against him And the Petitioner in all likelihood would do the same and with greater impunity and ease when granted bail and is out of Jail It is humbly submitted that the petitioner herein does not deserve any leniency and his bail application is liable to be dismissedrdquo the plea saidRajasthan government has also told the top court that Asharam Bapu serving a life term in two rape cases in a Jodhpur jail is fit and stable but trying to change the venue of his custody on the pretext of medical treatmentAsharam is serving varying jail terms including life sentences in two sexual assault casesldquoThe accusedpetitioner Asharam with ulterior motives has been attempting to change the venue of his custody under the guise of medical treatment Such change with due respect is an abuse of the process of lawrdquo the state government said in an affidavitldquoThe accused is also deliberately delaying the pending trial at Gandhi Nagar as well as Jodhpur raising such pleas with mala fides whereas he is stable and fitrdquo it saidIt also said Asaram was tested positive for Covid19 on May 6 and was having mild symptoms with lowgrade fever and was treated properlyOn June 4 the apex court had sought the Rajasthan governments response to Asharams plea for the courts permission for the treatment at an ayurvedic centre near HaridwarThe top court had then orally observed that it was not inclined to grant interim bail by suspending the selfstyled godmans sentenceAshram had sought the suspension of his sentence for two months saying he needed to get ldquoholisticrdquo treatment of his multiple ailments at a medical centre near HaridwarAsharam has moved the apex court challenging the Rajasthan High Court order which had earlier dismissed his plea for the suspension of his sentences to undergo treatment at a medical centre of his choice The plea was filed through lawyer Saurabh Ajay GuptaAsharams accomplices Sharad and Shilpi were also sentenced to 20 years in jail by the court in the 2013 case for their rolesThe teenager had said in her complaint that Asaram had called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15 2013The 16yearold girl from Shahjahanpur of Uttar Pradesh was studying at Asarams ashram in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh He was also convicted in a 2002 rape case and sentenced to 20 years in prisonAsaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat He was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1 2013 and is in judicial custody since thenThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever