Rajasthan HC rejects Asaram Bapu's bail plea in sexual assault case

Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of spiritual guru Asaram Bapu, arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, a lawyer said. Asaram, 72, is currently lodged in the Jodhpur Central Jail since 2 September. [caption id=“attachment_1145251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Asaram Bapu. PTI[/caption] District and sessions judge (rural) Monday extended his judicial custody till Oct 11 in the sexual assault case. Asaram, 72, filed a bail application before the Jodhpur bench of the High Court 13 September after his earlier plea was rejected by a lower court. “Justice Nirmaljit Kaur rejected his bail application today (Tuesday) after hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution lawyers,” said prosecution counsel Anand Purohit. Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani had appeared for Asaram to argue in favour of bail. On 20 August, a 16-year-old girl lodged a police complaint accusing Asaram of sexually assaulting her at his ashram near Jodhpur. Asaram was arrested from his ashram in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and brought to Jodhpur 1 September. Immediately after his arrest, Asaram filed an application for bail in the same court, which rejected the plea 4 September. IANS