This godman believed raping girls was no sin for 'Brahmgyani'

Agencies
April 26, 2018

Jodhpur, Apr 26: Asaram believed that sexual exploitation of girls is not a sin for 'Brahmgyani' or a highly enlightened person, a prosecution witness had deposed to the court during the trial that ended on Wednesday in a life-long jail term to the self-styled godman.

Asaram also used to take medicines to increase sexual prowess, said prosecution witness Rahul K Sachar, a former follower of Asaram, in his deposition forming part of the 453-page judgement convicting the godman and his two accomplices for raping a minor nearly five years ago.

Sachar, who was close to Asaram and had access to his 'kutia' or abode, deposed that he had seen Asaram molesting girls in his ashrams in 2003 in Pushkar (Rajasthan), Bhiwani (Haryana) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

For this purpose, he used to give signals to three girls, who used to stay with him, by throwing torch light. On getting the 'signal', the girls used to take the targeted girls to his room in Kutia. He used to roam around the ashram with the three girls for selecting the targeted girls, said Sachar.

One evening in Ahmedabad, Sachar deposed, he climbed the wall of the 'kutia' and saw the godman molesting the girl. He then wrote a letter questioning why he was doing this to girls and handed over the letter to the cook. Asaram read the letter but ignored it.

The follower sent a second letter to Asaram, but he chose not to respond to it, following which he forcefully entered the 'kutia' and asked why Bapu was quiet on his questions.

The response of Asaram was, “'Brahmgiani ko ye sab karne se paap nahi lagta.' (It's not a sin for a 'Brahmgyani' or a highly enlightened person to do so).

When he posed second question how a 'Bhramgyani' can have such desires, Asaram quietly went inside and asked his men and guards to throw the follower out of the 'kutia.'

Sachar had further told the court that Asaram also used to take medicines for increasing his sexual power and used to consume opium.

Codeword for opium was 'Panched Buti'.

The prosecution witness had also disclosed to the court that the three girls staying with Asaram were also involved in abortion of the godman's victims.

After leaving Asaram's company and his ashram, Sachar was also attacked in 2004, for which he had lodged a complaint with police but no progress ever took place. He was again attacked after giving the statement in the Asaram sexual assault case.

Asaram was arrested and was lodged in judicial custody since September 2013 in the case, in which he was awarded life-long jail term by the Jodhpur special POSCO court.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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News Network
March 23,2020

New Delhi, Mar 23: The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 415 on Monday including seven deaths.

"A total of 18,383 samples from 17,493 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 as on March 23 at 10 am IST. A total of 415 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases," ICMR said in a release.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 67 confirmed cases, including 64 Indian nationals.

Kerala also has 67 confirmed cases with 60 Indian nationals.

Next on the list with most coronavirus-affected patients is Delhi with 29 confirmed cases.

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have 28 and 27 confirmed cases respectively. Telangana and Karnataka have reported 26 cases each. In Punjab, the number of COVID-19 affected patients stands at 21.

A total of 24 patients have been cured and discharged.

The Centre on Monday asked state governments to strictly enforce the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus and directed legal action against violators.

"States have been asked to strictly enforce the lockdown in the areas where it has been announced. Legal action will be taken against violators," a tweet by Principal Director General of PIB, KS Dhatwalia read.

A 'Janata curfew' was observed yesterday to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed and over 13,000 lives worldwide.

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News Network
February 6,2020

Washington, Feb 6: The US has expressed concern over the current situation of religious freedom in India and raised the issue with Indian officials, a senior State Department official has said.

The remarks came in the wake of widespread protests held across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The senior State Department official, on condition of anonymity, said that he has met with officials in India about what is taking place in the nation and expressed concern.

"We are concerned about what's taking place in India. I have met with the Indian foreign minister. I've met with the Indian ambassador (to express my concern)," the official, who was recently in India, told reporters on Wednesday.

The US has also "expressed desire first to try to help and work through some of these issues", the official said as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched a 27-nation International Religious Freedom Alliance.

"To me, the initial step we try to do in most places is say what can we do to be of help you work through an issue to where there's not religious persecution. That's the first step, is just saying can we work with you on this," the official said.

India maintains that the Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities.

It is widely acknowledged that India is a vibrant democracy where the Constitution provides protection of religious freedom, and where democratic governance and rule of law further promote and protect fundamental rights, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs has said.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 following religious persecution there will get Indian citizenship.

The Indian government has been emphasising that the new law will not deny any citizenship rights, but has been brought to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries and give them citizenship.

Defending the CAA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month said that the law is not about taking away citizenship, it is about giving citizenship.

"We must all know that any person of any religion from any country of the world who believes in India and its Constitution can apply for Indian citizenship through due process. There's no problem in that," he said.

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