OTHER ACCUSED IN THE CRIME
Shilpi Gupta, 32
JAIPUR: Shilpi Gupta, alias Sanchita, was warden of the Chhindwara Gurukul in MP. A resident of Mall Shri Vihar, VIP Road, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Shilpi was arrested on September 25, 2013 on charges of being complicit in the rape of a teenager by self-styled godman Asaram. According to the chargesheet, Gupta did not accompany the girl to a doctor when she was taken ill and instead told her that she was under the influence of some supernatural spirit. Gupta was charged with sending the minor to Asaram at his Jodhpur retreat on the pretext that he would cure her. She was charged under section 17 of the POCSO Act. The Jodhpur court found her guilty of all the charges, including trafficking of a minor, wrongful confinement, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of woman, rape of minor, gangrape.
Sharadchandra, 38
Sharadchandra, alias Sharatchandra, was director of Shri Shakti Trust and Chhindwara residential school. Jodhpur police said the man instilled a fear of the supernatural in the teenager’s mind. He called her and used another student to show her that she was under the influence of a spirit. The court found him guilty of making the girl believe that only Asaram could cure her. Both have been sentenced to 20 years in jail.