Asaram Bapu rape case verdict: Timeline of events upto his conviction by Jodhpur court

August 15, 2013: The girl is taken to Asaram Bapu’s ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur by her parents, who were followers of the godman. She is sexually assaulted on the pretext of curing her of ‘evil spirits’.

READ | Asaram Bapu guilty of raping 16-year-old girl in Jodhpur ashram

August 20, 2013: Complaint is filed at a Delhi police station. In her complaint, the victim says she was asked to perform oral sex and touched inappropriately.

August 31, 2013: Asaram Bapu is arrested from Indore, which leads to violent protests by his supporters.

September 01, 2013: Asaram Bapu is quizzed by the police after being arrested. A potency test is conducted at SN Medical college, which confirmed that he was capable of performing sexual act.

September 02, 2013: The godman is sent to judicial custody.

November 06, 2013: Jodhpur police files a chargesheet against Asaram and four co-accused – Sanchita alias Shilpi, Sharad Chandra alias Sharat Chandra, Prakash and Shiva alias Sava Ram Hethvadiya. He is booked under Sections 342, 376, 506 and 509 of the IPC, as well as under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

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February 7, 2014: Jodhpur court frames charges against Asaram for rape, criminal conspiracy and other offences.

Asaram gets life imprisonment.

May 23, 2014: Asaram’s personal aide, Amrut Prajapati, who was a key witness in the case was shot at. He succumbs to inuries on June 10.

February 13, 2015: Rahul Sachan, another witness in the rape case, is stabbed at the Jodhpur court premises. Later, in November, he goes missing from Kaiserbagh bus stand in Lucknow.

May 14, 2015: Witness Mahendra Chawla, who had served as Asaram’s personal assistant between 2001 and 2005, shot dead at his house in Panipat.

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June 10, 2015: Kripal Singh, a witness in the Jodhpur case against Asaram, is shot at in Shahjahanpur and dies a day later.

June 22, 2016: An Income Tax probe into the charitable trusts controlled by Asaram Bapu revealed undisclosed income of Rs 2,300 crore since 2008-09.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had asked the three states to deploy additional forces in sensitive areas and ensure law and order is maintained following the judgment.

August 4, 2016: Police move a plea in Rajasthan High Court for shifting the trial to jail premises in Jodhpur.

April 7, 2018: Final argument in the case ends in the court of SC/ST Cases Special Judge Madhu Sudan Sharma. The court reserves verdict for April 25.

April 17, 2018: The Rajasthan High Court directs the trial court to pronounce its judgment inside the Jodhpur Central Jail to prevent breach of law and order in the city.

April 25, 2017: Asaram Bapu, 77, is convicted by a trial court. The verdict is delivered by Special Judge Madhusudhan Sharma in a makeshift court at the Jodhpur Central Jail, where the self-styled godman has been lodged since 2013.