Amid tight security, a Jodhpur court on Wednesday held self-styled godman Asaram Bapu guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and sentenced him to life imprisonment till death.
Two of his aides— Shilpi and Sharad—who were also convicted in the case got 20 years of imprisonment.
Judge Madhusudan Sharma announced the verdict inside the Jodhpur Central Jail. The special court for SC/ST cases acquitted two other accused—Prakash and Shiva.
Asaram was convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.
"A great day for justice," said victim's Lawyer Utsav Bains soon after the verdict.
Soon after the verdict convicting Asaram came in the morning, the victim's father had expressed hope that the godman will get get strict punishment. "I also hope the witnesses who were murdered or kidnapped get justice," he had said.
"For the past four months, our family members had not been coming out (of our house)...it is satisfying that the verdict has gone against him," said the girl's father.
Asaram's spokesperson Neelam Dubey said they will talk to their legal team and decide future course of action.
"We will discuss with our legal team and then decide our future course of action. We have confidence in our judiciary," Dubey said.
Asaram was accused of raping a teenage girl from Shahajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who was studying at the godman's ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Asaram has denied the rape charges.
The victim had alleged that Asaram called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013.
Security was also stepped up around the victim's house in Shahajahanpur.
A vigil was also being kept outside Asaram's ashram at Rudrapur, he said.
Earlier the Centre had asked Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana governments to tighten security and deploy additional forces as the three states have a large number of followers of the 77-year-old Asaram.
The Union Home Ministry's advisory was sent in view of the fact that large-scale violence was witnessed in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh after a special court in Mohali convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim last year.
Final arguments in the Asaram case had been completed by the special court for SC/ST cases on April 7.
Asaram was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013.
The godman is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat in which the Supreme Court earlier this month gave five weeks time to the prosecution to complete the trial.