D G Vanzara, the former deputy inspector-general of Gujarat, who was allegedly involved in fake encounter cases, said it was improper to dub Asaram a “rapist”.
“We respect the judgment and are not contesting or supporting any action proven in a court of law,” Vanzara said.
“However, it is improper to dub Asaram a rapist for being convicted in the sexual assault case,” said Vanzara, who arrived at Asaram’s Ahmedabad-based ashram after a court in Jodhpur sentenced him.
“In the FIR lodged by the victim or in the charge-sheet filed, nowhere does it say that she was raped. What it says is that he tried to touch her improperly,” said Vanzara.
According to Vanzara the victim never stated that she had been raped even during the trial.
“This was never a case of rape. The sentence is not based on rape committed. The victim said that Bapuji had touched her with bad intent, which is also a crime. But I doubt whether Asaramji did so. He has been convicted in this matter but the decision of any court is not final,” Vanzara added.
“We respect this decision but will go to the higher court against it. We believe that we will get justice.”
Vanzara, in the past too, had claimed that the case against Asaram Bapu was a frame-up. “Being a police officer, I know that the entire case against Asaram Bapu is a frame up. The FIR against him is fake,” he had said in 2016.
He said that the case against Asaram was a conspiracy, as the 77-year-old godman was a “protector of the Sanatan Hindu dharma”.
The survivor, who was a Class 12 student at Asaram Bapu’s Chhindwara Ashram in Madhya Pradesh, was raped in August 2013.
Following complaints about her sickness while in Chhindwara, the godman summoned the girl and her family to his ashram in Manai village on the outskirts of Jodhpur.
Asaram Bapu was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He has been in judicial custody since September 2, 2013.