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span style="font-size:14px;">Jodhpur (Rajasthan): On Saturday, a special SC/St court reserved its order for 25 April in a 2012 rape case against self-styled godman Asaram. The judge reserves his decision after the final arguments were completed.
After hearing the final argument from the prosecution and defence counsels for almost five months, Judge Madhu Sudan Sharma has come to his decision.
The final arguments were completed on Saturday, victim's counsel PC Solanki said. The court reserved the order for 25 April, he further added.
In Manai village, a teenage girl had accused Asaram of sexual assault at his ashram. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram.
Asaram, who is in jail since 31 August 2013, was charged under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the council said.
If convicted, Asaram faces a maximum sentence of 10 years, counsel added.
He is also facing a rape case in Gujarat. Earlier, the apex court had refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds in the two sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The SC had yesterday pulled up the Gujarat Police for the delay in completion of recording of evidence in one of the rape cases, lodged in Jodhpur jail, and directed it to conclude the process within five weeks. Asaram's counsel had on 15 January told the court that in the Gujarat case, out of 92 witnesses, 22 material witnesses have been examined, 14 of them have been dropped and rest need to be examined.
Two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal detention, among other charges.