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Ground Report | New Delhi: Why Justice For Bapuji is trending; The Rajasthan High Court has summoned an IPS officer to record his evidence following an appeal challenging the conviction of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in a rape case, which claimed that the victim used to teach.
A trial court had sentenced Asaram to life imprisonment in 2018 for raping a minor in an ashram in Jodhpur in 2013. Jaipur Additional Commissioner of Police Ajay Pal Lamba has now been asked to appear as a court witness on March 7.
Asaram has argued that the victim's graphic description of the alleged crime scene - Asaram's private quarters, "kutia", was influenced by the video recording of the place by the IPS officer when he was serving in Jodhpur.
The defence argued that it was not aware of the existence of the video clip until they found a mention of it in Lamba's book "Gunning for the Godman: The True Story Behind Asaram Bapu's Punishment".
The then DCP (West) in Jodhpur had said in his book that he filmed the crime scene on his mobile phone when needed during the investigation. Asaram's counsel argued that the girl had not given any details of the interiors of the hut in her handwritten complaint or the statement recorded by the police on August 20, 2013.
"Lamba visited the crime scene the next day on August 21, 2013, and videographed the crime scene, which has been described in detail in the book," the petition said. The video was shown to the victim and was the basis for the graphic description of the crime scene by her, it claimed.
Why Justice For Bapuji is trending
Earlier, After a court in Kerala acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of charges of raping a nun at a convent in the state, supporters of self-styled Hindu saint Asaram Bapu have demanded his release as well. The hashtag “#WeWantJustice” became part of India’s top trends on Twitter.
Asaram’s supporters have used social media extensively to mark dissent from him. Right-wing voices on social networks proclaimed his saint innocent and accused the entire state machinery of keeping him detained under dubious clauses.
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