From a small hut on the banks of the Sabarmati to a sprawling Rs 10,000-crore business empire, Asaram Bapu's growth to one of the wealthiest spiritual leaders in the country was astounding. But the 77-year-old controversial preacher plunged into ignominy earlier this week after his conviction and life sentence in the rape of a teenager from Jodhpur.
Asaram is believed to own 400 ashrams spread across India and abroad and has a legion of followers. He owed his immense wealth to buildings, stocks and shares, a lucrative money-lending practice and by selling Ayurvedic products and religious booklets.
Asaram's son Narayan Sai is already lodged in Lajpor jail in Gujarat after being arrested in a rape case in Surat, in which Asaram is also an accused. His daughter Bharti Devi and wife Lakshmi Devi were accused of supporting and helping Asaram and Sai in the rape case and were arrested. However, both the women were let out on bail later.
Now with the father-son duo behind bars, the Sant Shri Aasaramji Trust, which looks after the entire business, will be taken over by Bharti Devi. The trust is registered as a charitable body with headquarters in Ahmedabad.
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Bharti Devi was born to Asaram and Lakshmi Devi in 1975. In fact, she has been running the trust since 2013 after her father was arrested in the Jodhpur rape case.
According to Asaram’s website, the spiritual leader has four crore followers around the world. In India, except the Northeast, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he has followers in every state.
A Jodhpur court on Wednesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago.
Asaram will be in prison till his natural death, the court pronounced, convicting him under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act. It also imposed of fine of Rs 1 lakh on him.
Special judge Madhusudan Sharma's verdict, which comes as the debate over sexual violence, particularly the rape of minors, intensifies across the country, was read out in the Jodhpur Central Jail where the godman has been kept for over four years.