Asaram’s bail plea hearing put off till Wednesday

Jodhpur  : A day after spiritual guru Asaram Bapu spent a night in prison in a case of sexually assaulting a minor girl, the hearing on his bail plea Tuesday was put off till the next day by a Rajasthan court here, a lawyer said.

District and Sessions Judge (Rural) of Jodhpur Manoj Vyas put off the hearing till Wednesday to allow the prosecution argue on the bail plea, Asaram’s lawyer K.K. Manan said.

Asaram, 72, who was arrested from his ashram in Indore in Madhya Pradesh last week, sought bail claiming that police erred in booking him under rape charge, which is non-bailable.

He claimed if the minor girl’s complaint was found to be true, it would at best amount to a rape attempt.

Manan told the court that the spiritual guru should be granted bail as even the alleged rape attempt was a bailable offence.

Asaram was Monday sent to 14 days’ judicial custody by a Jodhpur district court after questioning at a guest house of the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary.

The 16-year-old girl alleged that the sexual assault took place Aug 15 at Asaram’s ashram outside Jodhpur city. The spiritual guru has denied the charge. Police, however, claimed they had a water-tight case against him.