Non-bailable warrants against Narayan Sai, followers

Surat: A court here issued non-bailable warrants against Narayan Sai, son of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, and three of his followers, who have been absconding for 24 days after a sexual assault case was filed by one of the two city-based sisters against him. Chief judicial magistrate JM Thakkar issued thewarrants against Sai and others yesterday after they failed to appear before the police in the case. Besides Sai, warrants have been issued against Hanuman alias Kaushal Thakur, Ganga Patel and Jamuna Patel. Sai and his followers have been on the run since the complaint was filed against them on October 6. [caption id=“attachment_1203269” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narayan Sai, son of Asaram Bapu. PTI[/caption] The Surat police had approached the court for issuance of non-bailable warrants against them. Sai has been accused of sexual assault, while his devotees have been accused of abetting the crime. Recently, the Surat police registered two complaints - one against Asaram and another against his son Narayan Sai - on charges of rape, sexual assault, illegal confinement, as alleged by the two sisters. In her complaint, the elder of the two sisters accused Asaram of repeated sexual assault between 1997 and 2006 during the time she lived in his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. Her younger sister registered a complaint of sexual assault against Narayan Sai. PTI