Questioning the Gujarat government on the slow pace of the trial for rape of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, the Supreme Court enquired about the delay in examining the victims. A Bench led by Justice N.V. Ramana asked the State government on Monday to explain the status of the trial and any delay in an affidavit.
The victims, two sisters from Surat, have not been examined despite the Supreme Court, urging in April this year that their testimonies be recorded in the trial court without delay. The court had also asked the Surat trial court to record the testimonies of 46 remaining prosecution witnesses including the rape victims. Asaram was arrested by the Jodhpur police on August 31, 2013
Earlier, the top court had refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds including his poor health in two separate sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The apex court, while dismissing his bail plea on January 30, had observed that he had placed a fictitious document to persuade the court to grant him bail and had ordered registration of an FIR against those responsible for preparing and filing the alleged fake papers.
The two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among other charges.
The elder sister, in her complaint had accused him of repeated sexual assaults between 2001 and 2006 when she was staying at his ashram near Ahmedabad.
In the case in Rajasthan, a teenage girl had accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram.
