Asaram Bapu Case: Rape Victim's Father's Fake Video Goes Viral; Police Register FIR, Launch Probe

Police lodged an FIR after a video allegedly showing the father of the rape victim apologising for "making false allegations" against self-styled jailed godman Asaram Bapu went viral. Police also provided extra security to the father who has alleged that the appearance and voice of the person speaking in the video is not his.

Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh):Police here provided extra security to the father of a rape victim and lodged an FIR after a video allegedly showed him apologising for "making false allegations" against self-styled jailed godman Asaram Bapu, a police officer said on Thursday.

Captioned, "The man shown in the video is the father of the girl who was raped by Asaram Bapu in 2013 at his Jodhpur ashram when she was 16 years old," the video went viral on social media. On Tuesday, the father of the girl, who lives in the Shahjahanpur area, went to the police and said that the video was shared by Asaram's supporters in an attempt to discredit him and his family.

Superintendent of Police, Ashok Kumar Meena said a formal complaint has been lodged, against Anil Kumar Sharma, the ID of the social media account from which the video was allegedly posted.

"We have received in writing from the victim's father that it's not him in the video which is doing rounds on social media. Efforts are being made to identify those involved in circulating the video on social media platforms with mala fide intentions," Sharma added.

The father said that this was not his video, nor had he recorded any such statement. "The appearance and voice of the person who is speaking in the video is not mine. Strict action should be taken against the person who has made this fake video viral," the father said.

Asaram Bapu, the self-styled Godman, was convicted by a Jodhpur court and was awarded life imprisonment in 2018 after a minor girl student filed a rape case against him.