Asaram Bapu is a self-styled godman currently serving a life imprisonment term in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur on being found guilty of the rape of a minor. He has appealed to the Supreme Court for a bail citing health issues and the prolonged duration of his ongoing trial in Gujarat. Asaram was, on a number of occasions, found on the wrong side of the law. He also made some controversial comments while speaking about the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape victim. Here we take a look at all of Asaram’s Bapu’s controversies over the years:

Encroachment of land

Asharam’s organization had encroached upon empty plots of land in several Indian states. Reports suggest that a number of cases are still pending regarding such encroachments. The Gujarat state assembly declared in 2009 that he had illegally possessed 67,099 sq. m of land in Ahmedabad.

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Death of gurukul students

In 2008, a couple of students from Asaram’s Motera, Gujarat gurukul (residential school) went missing. The parents of these boys later said that gurukul authorities had tried to coerce them against reporting this incident to the police. The bodies of the two boys were later found on the Sabarmati river’s bank. The bodies of two other boys were also found in another gurukul in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara.

Comments on the Nirbhaya gang rape case

Asaram reportedly said that the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim was as guilty of the crime as the perpetrators. He also suggested that the woman should have called these rapists her brothers and asked them for mercy. However, Asaram denied making such comments later and also suggested that his message about the incident had been distorted.

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Rape of minors in Jodhpur and Surat

Asaram was accused of the rape of a minor girl in his Jodhpur ashram. The godman had asked the Rajasthan High Court to suspend the case against him, but met with rejection. It is the ruling against him in this case that saw Asaram being sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Two other minors from Gujarat’s Surat had accused Asaram and his son, Narayan Sai, of rape. In 2019, Sai was convicted in the cases and is currently serving a life imprisonment term as well.

Life-threatening attacks against witnesses

A number of witnesses in the criminal cases against Asaram were attacked in order to prevent them from testifying in court. While one was fired upon, another witness had acid thrown at him. Another witness was stabbed after attending a court session in connection to the cases.