Supreme Court Provides Interim Bail to Asaram Bapu in Rape Case for Hospitalization Treatment

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail on medical grounds to self-styled ‘godman’ Asaram Bapu until March 31, subject to some conditions which include the restriction on meeting followers when out of jail.

Asaram is presently in jail after being arrested by the Jodhpur Police on August 31, 2013, in a rape case. A teenage girl accused him of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Manai village in that district. The girl, who was a student at the ashram, belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

According to medical reports, the godman is a heart patient and previously suffered a myocardial infarction. The Supreme Court ordered the deployment of law enforcement officers during the period of his bail for supervision.

One last measure by the Supreme Court has come six days after Asaram, the original name of which being Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, came back to Jodhpur Jail in Rajasthan after sixteen days out on parole.

A Jodhpur court sentenced life in prison to Asaram Bapu in April 2018 after convicting him of raping a minor in his ashram in the year 2013. In the same spirit, he was also convicted by a Gujarat court in January 2023 for raping a Surat-based woman at an ashram in 2013.

Back in the last year, the apex court had asked for a response from the Gujarat government on an application filed by Asaram which has sought suspension of the life sentence imposed on him by a trial court in the rape case of 2013.

The Gujarat High Court, in August last year, denied relief to Asaram in the petition filed seeking suspension of a life sentence in the case by a Gandhinagar court in 2023.