Asaram Bapu paying the price for opposing Sonia, Rahul: Uma Bharti

Asaram Bapu has been booked for sexual assault following a complaint from a minor girl.

Zee Media Bureau/Kamna Arora

New Delhi: Defending Asaram Bapu who has been booked for sexual assault following a complaint from a minor girl, BJP vice president Uma Bharti on Thursday said that the spiritual leader is innocent.

On microblogging website Twitter, Bharti wrote that Asaram Bapu is paying the price for opposing Congress` president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Assuring that "sant samaaj" is with Asaram, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said that farce cases have been filed against the spiritual leader in Congress-ruled states.

The case, though filed in Delhi, has been transferred to Rajasthan since the alleged incident took place at a Jodhpur ashram.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that appropriate action will be taken on the basis of the outcome of the investigation. "If there is any truth in this, then strict punishment must be meted out," said Gehlot.

The 16-year-old girl submitted a complaint against Asaram at the Kamala Market police station in central Delhi on Tuesday evening.

The complainant said the assault took place on August 15 at a Jodhpur ashram where the girl had gone for treatment.

"The girl was studying in a gurukul run by (Asaram Bapu) in Madhya Pradesh`s Chhindwara district for five years. As she was not feeling well, the gurukul staff told her to visit Bapu (Asaram)," said a Delhi police official.

Police said Asaram took the girl to a separate room on the pretext of treating her illness and sexually assaulted her.

Traumatised, the girl kept mum but finally broke down a couple of days later.

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