2018 Asaram Bapu in jail awaiting verdict on rape charges

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[www.indiatoday.in]

But what eventually drove men like Prajapati, Raju Chandak (a former ashram manager), his own son-in-law Hemant Bulani, former man Friday Dinesh Bhagchandani and scores of other once-committed followers away from Asaram's mesmerising gridlock was their discovery of his irrepressible weakness for young women. Something that has now landed the godman in jail on charges of forcing himself on a minor girl.

Fifty-two-year-old Sudha Patel, who became a part of Asaram's flock at the Motera ashram in 1986, says she was forced to flee a decade later. "It was no longer an ashram, a place where one could seek god," she says recounting sordid details of how two young women codenamed 'dehl' (peahen in Gujarati) and 'bungalow' would act as spotters, constantly scoping out congregations for young women. Their cue, she says, was when the godman threw a fruit or piece of candy, at a girl he fancied amid his devotees.

"It was a simple and practiced routine," says Sudha. "The spotters and older sadhikas (female disciples) convinced the girl's parents that their daughter had been blessed. They cajoled them to take her to Asaram's kutir where he would perform anusthaan (special puja) especially for her."

Sudha and Prajapati, however, admit that there was seldom any coercion. "Most girls and families believed they were blessed. After all, their 'god' had chosen them. He was 'Krishna' and they would be his 'gopis'," says Prajapati, recalling instances where he was witness to arguments over who would go into Asaram's kutir on a particular day.

Sudha, who earns a meagre living selling ayurvedic medicines in Ahmedabad, says she is among a handful of women of the Motera ashram who survived despite spurning the godman. She claims Asaram had openly offered to reward anyone who could bring her around. "He would often announce during the satsangs-'jo Sudha ko sudhaar ke dikhawe, use ek lakh rupaye inaam doonga' (whoever reforms Sudha will be rewarded with Rs 1 lakh)," she says.

On January 7, amid the raging storm over the brutal gang rape of a physiotherapy student in south Delhi on December 16, Asaram declared the victim was as guilty as her attackers. "The girl should have called the culprits her brothers and begged them to stop this could have saved her life," he stated, adding to the outrage.

Would Asaram have relented if the 16-year-old he is accused of raping had addressed him as brother? "Not a chance," says Prajapati, "he would not have backed off even if she had called him 'father'. He insists he is god and everything he does is an 'act of god'."