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Teen Asaram Allegedly Raped Never Changed Statement Under Pressure

ndtv.com

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SHAHJAHANPUR: The five-year wait for justice is about to end for a young woman who tried to bring self-styled godman Asaram to book. The girl — who was only 16 years old when she was allegedly raped by Asaram and his aides – will wait for the word from the court at her home in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Her father said she has got back to her normal life and does not wish to relive the trauma.

“My daughter has done her duty. She stood by her testimony throughout the trial. Now we are waiting for justice,” her father told NDTV.

Asaram, 77, allegedly raped the girl in August 2013. He has been accused of rape, trafficking, and under a stringent law on sexual crimes against children that could entail a life term if charges are proved.

The family had been under unbearable pressure over the last years, when witness after witness who were ready to give testimony against Asaram, were attacked. Altogether, nine witnesses in the two cases against Asaram were attacked, three of them died.

But the girl had not buckled under the pressure. Her family and lawyer say for a whole month, she had given her testimony to the court, sitting through 164 sessions and sticking steadfastly to her statement. “They even tried to buy us out. When we did not relent, they threatened us. We got security, but it was lax in the previous regime and that is why, one of the crucial witnesses in the case was killed,” her father said.

Kripal Singh, who has been listed as witness Number 17 in the chargesheet against Asaram, was shot down just a kilometre from the girl’s house in 2015. The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested one of the accused, Kartik Haldar. Another, Narayan Pandey, is absconding.

Not just witnesses, even reporters covering the story have been threatened. Narendra Yadav, who works with a local vernacular daily, told NDTV of a particular incident, when a follower of Asaram came to him, carrying an envelope. “He said, ‘Baba has send prashad for you’. When I asked him to go away, he threatened me,” Mr Yadav said.

A few days later, a man attacked him with a sickle, he said. “Had the police taken my case seriously, Kripal Singh would not have been murdered,” he added.

KB Singh, the chief of the local police, said they have provided enough security to all the family members ahead of the verdict. “We have identified the followers of Asaram. We are keeping a strict watch on them,” he told NDTV.

The local intelligence unit is also not leaving anything to chance. They are keeping a strict watch on the traffic to and from Rudrapur, where one of the 400 ashrams of Asaram is located. When NDTV visited ashram, not many followers could be seen. “We are waiting for the judgement to come,” one of the employees, Devender, told NDTV.

Locals say the land on which the ashram is built, was donated to Asaram by the girl’s father before the incident “They were followers of Asaram and worshipped him,” one of the locals said.

The family had been tricked into sending the girl, who was studying at one of Asaram’s ashram in Chhindwara, to the ashram in Jodhpur, in August 2013.

The chargesheet says the cook and warden of the Chhindwara ashram claimed she was being possessed by evil spirits and needed to be exorcised by Asaram. When the parents took her to the ashram at Manai, near Jodhpur, Asaram had sexually assaulted her, the chargesheet said.

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