Victim's father says justice has been done

For the parents of self-styled godman Asaram's rape victim, the wheels of justice may have turned slowly but have ground just fine.

In 2013, Asaram had raped their teen daughter inside his ashram at Jodhpur in Rajasthan. On Wednesday he was handed life imprisonment, the maximum punishment in a rape case, by a court in Jodhpur.

“Justice has been done to us....to my daughter,” a visibly elated father of the rape survivor said in Shahajahanpur town, about 175 km from here.

The father, who had been a disciple of the self-styled godman before the incident, said that he always had hope that Asaram would get the severest punishment.

He said he and his family had suffered a lot since the registration of the case against Asaram. “We can not narrate our sufferings....we were confined to our home fearing for our lives....we were threatened on several occasions,” he added.

The father expressed hope that the kin of the witnesses, who had been killed during the hearing of the case, would also now get justice. Three witnesses were killed since the hearing of the case began at Jodhpur court.

Security had been tightened in and around the house of the victim since Monday as a precautionary measure. The district police officials said security personnel in strength had been deployed around the house to prevent any retaliation from Asaram supporters.