Asaram Bapu AKA Asaram Harpalani, a self proclaimed godman from Gujarat born in year 1941 and attained the self proclaimed sainthood in year 1964 with his empire grown up to Rs. 5000 crore and was praised by more than 20 million people across the globe. He was supposed to be the most powerful person in India until 2013 before he was arrested under the charges of rape of minor girls. He along with his son Narayan Sai was put behind the bars since then. The Indian Express details in this report on his empire about the Asaram, ranging from encroaching upon land, compromising on quality in his Ayurveda products to the quiet dispatching of girls into the ‘Gyan Ki Kutiya” in his ashrams.
While the several cases against Asaram Bapu is going on in the courts of Jodhpur where he is kept in the prison at the moment, many of the witnesses have been shot dead in the past. In the recent case the key witness Kripal Singh in Asaram Bapu case was shot dead by the unknown attackers in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district on the night of Friday and this was claimed to be the 9th witness in this case. According to the report published by the national daily “35-year-old Kripal Singh was shot at by two persons who came on a motorcycle in the Puwayan area in Shahjahanpur when he was on his way home from the market, police said. Before escaping, the duo warned him against deposing against Asaram”.
Mr. Singh who supposed to have been sustained the serious bullet injuries was rushed to the nearby hospital in Bareily where he succumbed to injuries at around 11.25 pm said the Bareilly Circle officer Mukul Dwivedi, Mr Singh’s body was being taken back to Shahjahanpur for cremation, he added. The special task force been put into the action to track down the cuprites said the police sources. The statement of Mr. Singh which he gave to Additional City Magistrate mentions that the attackers were connected to Asaram who were threatening him for past few days.
According to the police reports Mr. Singh was an employee of the transport company whose owner’s daughter was sexually assaulted by the 74 year old Asaram Bapu at his ashram near Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2013. Mr Singh was a key witness and his statement in the case against Asaram had been recorded around three months ago. Asaram has been in a jail in Jodhpur since September 2013. Two months later, he, along with his son Narayan Sai, was booked for the alleged rape of two sisters at their ashram in Gujarat’s Surat.
The last attack on the witness of Asaram Bapu was in the month of January in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh where the cook of Asaram Bapu was shot dead. So far 9 people have been shot dead in this case of Asaram Bapu who were supposed to be the key witnesses in this case.
Now, how many more to go, that only god knows or may be the GODMAN knows. But the procedures followed by the courts in India to collect the evidences from the witnesses are very weak. There is no security provided to the life of witness despite of the known facts that they are the next targets? After knowing the fact that 8 witnesses have been already killed in this case the court should have taken the cognizance of the matter and provided proper security to 9th witness? This can be also considered the loopholes in our law system? which has perhaps kept open for the criminals to take advantage of? Please do leave your comments and suggestions on this serious issue without being bias.
Source: PTI
