According to his lawyer, an Indian court on Tuesday sentenced self-proclaimed spiritual guru Asaram Bapu to life in prison for rape and sodomy.
The sentence is the second life term for a person over eighty years old who has already served a life sentence sentence after he was convicted in 2018 for raping a 16-year-old girl.
Asaram’s lawyer CB Gupta told CNN that a court in the western state of Gujarat also ordered him to pay 50,000 rupees (about $600) to the victim.
“We can appeal the ruling in high court,” the lawyer said.
Asaram, 81, described on his website as a “spiritual revolutionary” and “great teacher”, is one of India’s most famous spiritual masters.
Known as “Bapuji” or “father” among his followers, he rose to prominence in the 1970s before building a vast religious empire that included hundreds of thousands of followers, around 400 religious schools across India and many programs of global outreach.
The latest ruling against him comes at a time when India’s poor record of violence is in the spotlight.
Last August, an Indian court released 11 Hindu men who had been sentenced to life in prison for the gang rape of a pregnant Muslim woman during the riots. deadly in 2002, angering human rights groups and activists.
On average, one rape is reported every 17 minutes in India, according to government figures. Campaigners say patriarchal and deviant values are ingrained in this country of 1.3 billion people as part of the reason.
Spiritual masters in India can draw millions of followers to religious schools known as ashrams spread across the country.
In recent years, sexual assault allegations against some of these masters have sparked violent skirmishes.
After Asaram was arrested in 2013 for his first rape charge, clashes broke out between his supporters and police in several major cities.
In 2019, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of the spiritual sect Dera Sacha Sauda, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2002 murder of a journalist who helped expose subsexual abuse. female in his group. The guru served a life sentence for raping two of his followers.
After the first judgment against Singth, riots broke out that left 36 people dead and hundreds injured.
