Indian guru Asaram Bapu jailed for life after raping 16-year-old girl

Self-proclaimed Indian spiritual guru Asaram Bapu has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl.

The guilty verdict was handed down amid high security at Jodhpur Central Jail in the western state of Rajasthan where the 77-year-old is being held.

Bapu, who has been in prison since his arrest in 2013, was convicted on charges of criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement and rape.

The guru has denied the charges and his spokesperson Neelam Dubey told reporters that his legal team will challenge the verdict in India’s High Court.

The victim accused Bapu of raping her when she visited his retreat in Jodhpur with her mother in 2013 in her complaint to the police. She was 16 at the time.

The girl’s family said they had been followers of Bapu for more than a decade.

"Nothing can compensate for the trauma that the victim and the family have gone through”, the victim's lawyer, Utsav Bains, told NDTV before the sentencing.

Security was tight around the prison complex and in states where the guru has a high following.

Judge Madhusdhan Sharma announced the prison term from inside the city’s jail due to concerns there could be violence or riots from the guru’s supporters.

He also sentenced two of Bapu’s associates to 20 years in prison each for assisting him in the crime.

Police were placed on high-alert across three Indian states amid the threat of further clashes. The states Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana are home to a number of Bapu’s devotees.

His arrest in 2013 prompted violent clashes between his supporters and police in several major cities.

He ran more than 230 ashrams with residential schools with millions of followers across India and abroad, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Uganda and Kenya.

Bapu is also on trial in another rape case in western Gujarat state along with his son Narayan Sai in which two sisters have accused the two men of sexual assault.