Jammu and Kashmir HC upholds 10-year jail sentence of 84-year-old godman for raping minor girl

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently upheld a sessions court's decision to sentence an 84-year-old self-styled godman named Brahmanand Saraswati to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping a minor girl. .Justice MA Chowdhary on August 12 dismissed the godman's appeal against his conviction and sentence in the case. The High Court held that there was sufficient and credible evidence against the convict. It further agreed with the trial court's view that the convict's advanced age could not justify a lenient approach.“It is a case, where a godman/guru/swami, revered by the inhabitants of the village, that too in his advanced age, had sexually ravished a girl of a tender age suffering from the deformity of being a dwarf and there being sufficient and credible evidence in the form of ocular as well as documentary and expert evidence, it can safely be held on the basis of prosecution evidence that the appellant/convict had committed the offence punishable under Section 376 RPC upon the prosecutrix," the High Court observed..The case arose from an FIR registered by the Reasi police after a minor girl became pregnant and disclosed to her family that she had been sexually assaulted by a godman who went by the name Brahmanand Saraswati. Saraswiti is said to have been residing earlier at house adjacent to where the minor girl and her family were staying. The villagers regarded him as a guru and the girl used to visit him to provide milk, food and other items.The prosecution alleged that during one such visit, the girl became unconcious after drinking some tea that Saraswati offered her, following which he raped her. He also allegedly threatened her with dire consequences if the incident was disclosed to anyone else, including eliminating her family.The prosecution said that similar sexual assaults continued repeatedly, before the girl became pregnant.The matter came to light after the girl developed abdominal pain and disclosed that she had been raped by the godman to her parents. She eventually delivered a stillborn female child in October 2018.The godman was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police the same year from Uttar Pradesh after reportedly being on the run for a month. In 2024, a trial court convicted him for rape and sentenced him to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a ₹5,000 fine. Brahmanand Saraswati challenged this verdict before the High Court, primarily on the grounds of an alleged eight-month delay in lodging the FIR, contradictions regarding the prosecutrix’s age, alleged inconsistencies in her statement, the absence of any eyewitness to the alleged crime, questions concerning the collection and custody of DNA samples and the alleged presence of another suspect.The High Court rejected all these contentions. It held that the delay in reporting the offence was understandable considering that the prosecutrix was a minor, was physically a dwarf and the accused was an elderly godman enjoying considerable influence in the locality.The Court found the prosecutrix’s testimony was supported by medical and DNA evidence, as well as other circumstances proved by the prosecution.The Court went on to hold that the forensic evidence on record conclusively established the self-styled godman was the biological father of the child delivered by the prosecutrix..The High Court also considered the trial court’s finding that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) was not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir on the date of occurrence.It observed that the trial court appeared to have overlooked the fact that, prior to the enforcement of the POCSO Act in Jammu and Kashmir, an ordinance/legislation containing substantially similar provisions was applicable in the erstwhile State.However, since the State had not challenged the trial court judgment on this aspect, the High Court declined to express any further view on it.The Court also noted that repeated acts of rape attracted Section 376(2)(n) of the Ranbir Penal Code (the criminal law prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir earlier), which punished such crimes with imprisonment up to life imprisonment. However, the High Court did not enhance the sentence since the State had not filed an appeal challenging its inadequacy. The High Court, accordingly confirmed the trial court's decision to sentence the convicted godman to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a ₹5,000 fine..Advocate Vasudha Sharma appeared for the convict.Government Advocate Sumeet Bhatia appeared for the Jammu and Kashmir government..[Read Judgment]