Jodhpur court reserves order on Asaram Bapu's bail plea

Jodhpur: A Jodhpur court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail plea of spiritual guru Asaram Bapu arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, lawyers said. Asaram, 72, is currently lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail after the court of the district and sessions judge (rural) remanded him to 14-days’ judicial custody in the sexual assault case. [caption id=“attachment_1084199” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Asaram Bapu. PTI[/caption] The bail application is being heard by the same court of District and Sessions Judge (Rural) Manoj Vyas. “The court, after hearing arguments from both sides, has reserved its order,” Asaram’s lawyer KK Manan told IANS. Replying to questions raised by Asaram’s lawyers as to why the police complaint was filed a few days after the alleged incident, public prosecutor Anand Purohit said the girl was in a state of shock and it took time for her to gather courage and file the complaint. Asaram, who was arrested from his ashram in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, sought bail claiming that police erred in booking him under rape charges, which is non-bailable. The girl alleged that the sexual assault took place on 15 August at Asaram’s ashram outside Jodhpur. The spiritual guru has denied the charge. IANS