'She's as guilty as her rapists' Indian guru blames tragic Jyoti

AFRIK UPDATE

@SahilBulla tweeted: 'Dear Asaram Bapu, one hand can never clap but one finger can easily show you what we think of you.'

 

'Spiritual Guru' has sparked outrage in India after saying that the 23-year-old rape victim who died after being assaulted by six men was partly responsible for her own attack.

The guru abandoned his family as a young man to live in an ashram and practice meditation, before starting up his own his own ashram in Ahmedabad.

Asaram Bapu said that Jyoti Singh Pandey, whose fate has drawn the sympathy of the world and been treated as a national tragedy within India, was 'as guilty as her rapists'.

He added that she should have been more friendly to her attackers if she wanted to preserve her own life.

Politicians and web users have reacted with fury to the 71-year-old guru's comments.

Asaram Bapu's controversial intervention in the case comes on the day that five of Jyoti's six alleged attackers appeared in court to face charges of murder, rape and abduction.

'Only five to six people are not the culprits,' the spiritual leader said. 'The victim is as guilty as her rapists.

'She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop.'

He added: 'This could have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don't think so.'

Leading political figures were quick to condemn the inflammatory comments, which one opposition politician called 'regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful'.

Sandeep Dikshit, from the ruling Congress party, said, 'Such comments should be condemned as much as possible,' while his colleague Rashid Alvi added that religious figures should 'give serious thought' before commenting on public affairs.

Many Indians took to social media to express contempt for Asaram Bapu's views.