Asaram verdict: We were living in constant terror, confined to home, victim's family recounts horror

SHAHJAHANPUR (UP): The father of the teenager raped by Asaram on Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the Jodhpur court verdict convicting the self-styled godman and thanked the judiciary and the media for it. "I am happy to get justice," the rape victim's father said after Asaram's conviction by a Jodhpur court. "We had complete faith in the judiciary and are happy that we got justice," he told mediapersons soon after the court verdict. "For the past four months, our family members had not been coming out (of our house)...it is satisfying that the verdict has gone against him," he said. "We were living in constant terror, our business was adversely hit," he said. The Jodhpur court found 77-year-old Asaram guilty of raping a teenager five years ago. The teenager from Shahajanpur in Uttar Pradesh was studying at the self-styled godman's ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. The victim had alleged that Asaram had called her to his ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur and raped her on the night of August 15, 2013. Ahead of the pronouncement of the judgement, the district administration had extended security to the victim's family. The administration had also stepped up vigil at Asaram's ashram at Rudrapur, about two km away. Asaram was arrested in Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013.