"My Daughter Is Happy Today": Rape Survivor's Father On Asaram Verdict

Shahjahanpur: As self-styled godman Asaram was declared guilty of rape by a judge inside Jodhpur jail, the five-year wait for a family in Uttar Pradesh came to pass.

"My daughter is happy today," said the father of the rape survivor who was 16 when she was raped in Asaram's ashram near Jodhpur, while her parents waited outside.

The family, devotees of 77-year-old Asaram, had been tricked into sending the girl to him. The girl studied at another ashram of Asaram in Madhya Pradesh, where staff claimed she was "possessed" by evil spirits and needed to be exorcised by "Bapuji".

"We hope he will get tough punishment. We will continue fighting till the end till our daughter gets justice," the father told NDTV, responding to Asaram's conviction.
 His daughter, he said, "thanks the judge and the policemen who worked hard to help us". She was tracking the court hearing from her home in Shajahanpur.

Her father says over the years, every trick in the book was used to get the girl to withdraw her case.

"We were threatened, attacked, offered bribe, all tactics were employed," he said.

"He faked illness on many occasions, took permission to wear clothes of his choice and get food he wanted...The court saw through his lies."

Nine witnesses in the two cases against Asaram were attacked, three of them died. Witnesses were even attacked in court.

"We faced so many hardships but we are happy that the accused has been convicted," said the father.

"My daughter has done her duty. She stood by her testimony throughout the trial. Now we are waiting for justice," he had told NDTV before the verdict.

Through every attempt to break the family, the girl never wavered, never changed her statement.

Her family and lawyer say for a whole month, she had given her testimony to the court, sitting through 164 sessions and sticking steadfastly to her statement.

Not just witnesses, even reporters covering the story were threatened. Narendra Yadav, who works with a local vernacular daily, told NDTV of an incident when a follower of Asaram came to him, carrying an envelope. "He said, 'Baba has send prasad for you'. When I asked him to go away, he threatened me," Mr Yadav said.