Surat: Narayan Sai gets life term for raping woman disciple

SURAT: A sessions court which convicted Narayan Sai, son of tainted religious leader Asaram, of raping a Surat woman and having unnatural sex with her on Friday last, has sentenced him to life imprisonment. The additional sessions judge while giving Narayan Sai, maximum punishment during sentencing on Tuesday, three days after his conviction, also fined him Rs1 lakh and awarded a compensation of Rs5 lakh to the rape survivor.Forty-seven-year-old Sai’s close aides - Ganga alias Dharmishtha, Jamna alias Bhavna, Kaushal alias Hanuman and driver Ramesh Malhotra- found guilty of helping him, were also sentenced. Ganga alias Dharmishtha, Jamna alias Bhavna and Kaushal alias Hanuman were sentenced 10 years in jail and Malhotra got a jail term of six months from the additional sessions judge. The rape survivor was raped by the convict multiple times between 2001 and 2004 in his Surat ashram and also at other places. Special public prosecutor P N Parmar requested the court to award life imprisonment to the convicts during hearing on quantum of punishment. “The convict took advantage of him being a religious and highly positioned person to commit the rape for which he should be awarded life imprisonment,” Parmar argued. The prosecution demanded compensation of Rs25 lakh for the rape survivor and also pointed out that the witnesses were given protection by the local court and even Supreme Court. “It is rare that orders to give protection to witnesses in rape case had to be issued by the court,” Parmar added. Multiple attacks were allegedly made by the followers of Asaram and Sai on the witnesses in different parts of the country in which three persons lost their lives and many suffered serious injuries, including husband of the complainant. The prosecution also submitted that Sai was also facing charges of attempt to bribe the investigating agency with an amount of Rs13 crore and that Rs8 crore had been recovered by police.Defence lawyer B M Gupta told TOI, “We will challenge the sessions court judgment. I can comment on different points only after reading the judgment. We are likely to get the written order by tomorrow.”Sai and other accused were booked at Jahagirpura police station of Surat in October 2013 on a complaint by the rape survivor. The elder sister of the complainant had lodged a separate complaint of rape and assault against Asaram on the same day. Investigation of the rape case against Asaram was transferred to Ahmedabad since the alleged rape took place in his ashram there.