Before discussing anything, let’s know who Asaram Babu is; Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, popularly known as Ashram Bapu, is 81 years old saint and godman. He is an Indian religious leader with over 400 ashrams and almost 40 schools in India and abroad.
Asaram Bapu became a Katha-Vachak and combined his teachings with dance, humour and singing, which made him famous. He transformed his hut into a small ashram in 1973. political leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Narendra Modi and Kamal Nath also visited his ashram to get votes from his followers.
Bapu has been on a life sentence in jodhpur jail since 2018 as he was found guilty of raping an underage girl and his two companions. All three were held guilty under section 376 of the Indian penal code and the POCSO act.
What is the POCSO act?
Protection of children from sexual offence(POCSO) act was introduced on 12 May 2012 and passed by both Lok sabha and Rajya sabha.
According to this act, any person below 18 years of age is considered a child; the law is to protect children from sexual offences such as sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography.
The POCSO act aims to reward the death sentence to the person found guilty of raping any child under 12 years of age.
Asaram Bapu’s views about the POCSO law:
Asaram Bapu was convicted under the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) for raping a teenage girl from the Saharanpur district of up who was studying in his ashram.
He called the POCSO act “a draconian law” and said that this law was misused to target innocent people like me without any reason. He says people are brutally harassed in the name of law under the POCSO act.
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How is the POCSO act misused in Asaram Bapu’s case?
Some latest news is heating up about Asaram Bapu and how POCSO was misused. It is said that allegations against Bapu are false as many fake documents of the victim girl have been found, such as DOB proof that includes birth certificates, school certificates, ration cards and voter id cards.
The so-called victim girl was intentionally shown as a minor when she was a major. There is a misuse of the POCSO act and section 120B in Aashram Bapu’s case. All the evidence supporting Bapu’s case is ignored.
All his followers and devotees have posted several tweets about the misuse of POCSO and section 120B in his case. The court rejected his bail plea, and he has been in jail for the last nine years.
Conclusion
Asaram Bapu is a self-proclaimed Indian religious leader with millions of followers across the globe. He is the main verdict in land enforcement and a rape case. But this high-profile case is said to be an example of manipulation of evidence and misuse of the law. It is said that they falsely showed a major girl as a minor in court and discovered multiple fake documents. People have raised various questions on the Indian judiciary system and how an ordinary person will escape this harassment.