Sexual Assault Case: Asaram Bapu to miss deadline for questioning due to a relative’s death

As reported by ndtv, spiritual guru Asaram Bapu, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager, won’t meet his deadline for police questioning in Rajasthan today.

Asaram Bapu’s lawyer called the Jodhpur police this morning and said he cannot come for questioning due to a relative’s death.

Police sources said: “We don’t want to give him any more extensions.” But they are weighing their options before considering the next step against the yoga guru who claims a mass following and runs ashrams and institutions across the country.

On Thursday, the self-styled godman flew to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, where several leaders of the ruling BJP have defended him since the criminal case was filed against him. 

The spiritual leader was summoned after a 16-year-old, whose parents are his disciples, complained that she had been sexually assaulted by the 72-year-old in his Jodhpur ashram.

In her statement to the police last week, the girl alleged that Asaram Bapu had threatened to kill her and her family if she reported him.

Asaram Bapur has dismissed these allegations as ‘bakwas’ (rubbish) and said the girl was like his ‘granddaughter’, as her parents were his disciples. His son has described the girl as “mentally ill.”

Asaram Bapu has even alleged that Congress leaders Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have orchestrated the case against him.

“People are telling me that this is all happening upon the instructions of Madam and her son,” he said after landing in Bhopal, surrounded by policemen who gave him cover as he spoke to the media. 

Two others were summoned along with Asaram Bapu – an official of his Ahmedabad ashram, and the warden of a hostel in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, belonging to his trust, where the girl was an inmate. They too, haven’t responded yet, said the police.