Jodhpur (Rajasthan) [India], April 25 (NT): Nearly five years after rape charges were levelled against self-styled godman, Asaram Bapu, the Jodhpur Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Court pronounced its verdict today. Amid the tight security Judge Madhusudan Sharma pronounced the verdict in the presence of 14 lawyers with 160 documents.

Asaram has been convicted by Jodhpur Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Court in a rape case.

The charge sheet was filed against Asaram in exchange of sexual favours under Sections 342, 376, 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

Asaram's involvement was probed in two separate cases - one from Rajasthan and the other from Gujarat.

In the case registered in Rajasthan, a teenage girl from Shahajahanpur of Uttar Pradesh had accused Asaram of raping her at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur on the night of August 15, 2013, while in Gujarat, two Surat-based sisters lodged separate complaints against the self-styled godman and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape.

Asaram was taken into police custody in August 2013, following which he was taken to Jodhpur Central jail. A month later, a potency test was conducted on him and was produced before a Jodhpur court. While the self-styled godman has filed a total of 12 bail petitions were rejected by the trial court, the Rajasthan High Court, and the Supreme Court.

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