Asaram moves Gujarat court for temporary bail in rape case

Jailed self-styled godmanAsaram on Thursday moved a trial court in Gujarat where he isfacing rape charges, seeking a 30-day temporary bail to attendto his ailing wife.

The temporary bail plea was filed before the court ofAdditional Sessions Judge S N Solanki in Gandhinagar.

The court fixed January 30 to hear the plea.

The 79-year-old controversial religious preacher,who is behind bars since 2013, is facing trial in a rape casebefore the sessions court in the Gujarat capital.

Currently, Asaram is lodged in a Rajasthan jail afterconviction in a separate rape case.

Asaram sought bail for a period of 30 days on theground that his 77-year-old wife, Lakshmi Devi, is severelyill and needs to undergo bypass surgery.

As per the bail application, doctors at UN Mehta HeartHospital in Ahmedabad had asked Lakshmi Devi to get herselfadmitted for a bypass surgery when she visited the hospital afew weeks ago when her heart condition started deteriorating.

However, since there was no one to look after her, shehad informed the doctors that she will get herself admitted tothe hospital on February 1, said Asaram's plea.

According to the plea, Asaram needs to be with hisailing wife during and after the heart surgery.

Two Surat-based sisters, who lived in Asarams ashramin Motera area of Ahmedabad between 1997 and 2006, lodged hadseparate complaints against him and his son Narayan Sai,accusing them of rape and illegal confinement, among othercharges.

Asaram is in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan ever since hisarrest in 2013 after a minor girl lodged a case of rapeagainst him.

He was convicted by a Jodhpur court in that case ofsexual assault in 2018. The Jodhpur court had sentenced theself-styled godman to life in prison.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)