Anticipatory bail granted to Asaram's wife and daughter

AHMEDABAD: A local court in Gandhinagar granted anticipatory bail today to the wife and daughter of Asaram, against whom a case of sexual assault has been registered by two Surat-based sisters.

Judge D T Soni granted bail to Asaram's wife Laxmi and daughter Bharti, in connection with a sexual assault case lodged against the self-styled godman.

In her complaint, the complainant had alleged that Asaram's wife and daughter had helped him commit the crime.

Recently, the Surat police registered two complaints - one against Asaram and another against his son Narayan Sai - for rape, sexual assault, illegal confinement and other charges, as alleged by the two sisters.

In her complaint, the elder of the two sisters accused Asaram of repeated sexual assault between 1997 and 2006 during the time she lived in his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city.

Consequently, Asaram's wife and daughter filed for anticipatory bail plea in a Gandhinagar court, as the alleged incident had taken place in Asaram's ashram in Motera, which falls in the jurisdiction of the state capital.

The younger of the two sisters had filed a complaint against Narayan Sai, accusing him of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005 when she lived in Asaram's Surat ashram.

Narayan Sai has filed for anticipatory bail in a court here. The hearing on his bail plea is expected to take place tomorrow after the prosecution sought time to file a detailed reply.

Narayan Sai and his father Asaram had also filed petitions in Gujarat High Court seeking quashing of complaints lodged against them on grounds of delay in the filing these complaints as well as the frivolous grounds on which they were filed.

Asaram (72) was brought to Ahmedabad on Monday evening on a transit remand from a court in Jodhpur, where he was lodged in a jail since August, in another sexual assault case.