| Narayan Sai, son of Asaram Bapu, gets life imprisonment for rape | | | New Delhi , April 30
Narayan Sai, son of self-styled godman and rape convict Asaram Bapu, has been awarded life imprisonment in a rape case filed against him by a former woman devotee in 2013. Narayan Sai was convicted on Friday by a Surat court.
Apart from life imprisonment, Narayan Sai has also been fined Rs one lakh. The other four convicts have been sentenced to 10-year jail and fined Rs 5,000, each.
Narayan Sai was convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 323 (assault), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (conspiracy).
Narayan Sai's aides--Dharmishtha alia Ganga, Bhavna alias Jamuna and Pavan alias Hanuman--were held guilty for being part of a conspiracy. Sai's driver Rajkumar alias Ramesh Malhotra was held guilty under IPC section 212 (harbouring an offender).
Ganga and Jamuna, also called "sadhika" (women disciples), were accused of putting the victim in illegal confinement and thrashing her at Sai's behest.
They were also accused of trying to brainwash her into agreeing to have a relationship with Sai. Hanuman, a loyal "sadhak" (disciple) of Sai, was accused of abetment, including taking the victim to Sai's room.
Surat Police had filed a 1,100-page charge sheet against Sai in 2014.
In 2013, after Asaram Bapu was arrested for raping a girl in Rajasthan, two Surat-based women accused the self-styled godman and his son of sexual exploitation.
The elder sister accused Asaram of sexual assaults between 1997 and 2006 when she lived at his Ahmedabad ashram.
The younger sister accused Narayan Sai of sexual assaults when she lived at Asaram's ashram in Jahangirpura area of Surat between 2002 and 2005.
Narayan Sai was arrested from Delhi-Haryana border in December 2013.
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