As the special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday convicted self-styled godman Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2002 rape case, during the verdict announcement by the Judge amid unprecedented security, court sources said Gurmeet stood inside the court with his hands folded in prayers and his eyes closed.
The CBI court gave its verdict secretly inside the courtroom where less than ten people were allowed to be present and ordered Dera chief to be taken into Judicial Custody.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on August 28. A rape conviction carries a minimum sentence of seven years. The rockstar godman arrived in Panchkula to be present before the court in the 15-year-old rape case against him, even as lakhs of agitated followers gathered outside.
On Friday morning Gurmeet left the sect headquarters in Sirsa, along with a cavalcade of more than 150 cars, and reached Panchkula in the afternoon.
Once the verdict was given, the Dera chief was examined by doctors. Then he was taken to the Chandimandir Army cantonment from where he was taken to a special jail at the Police Training College Rest House, Sunaria in district Rohtak.
The rape victims, despite threats and pressures all along, stood their ground on rape and sexual harassment allegations during the nearly 15-year-long court battle.
The case in which Gurmeet has been convicted goes back to 2002 after an anonymous letter written by a female follower to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, alleging rape became public.
The woman accused the Dera chief of raping her repeatedly during her stay at the Dera. The complainant had also claimed that there were many other women who had met the same fate.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court took cognisance of the letter and sought a report from the District and Sessions Judge of Sirsa. District Judge MS Sular conducted an enquiry and submitted his report recommending a probe by a central agency.
After getting the report from Sirsa, the HC had referred the matter to the CBI for probe into the allegations levelled in the letter. The Chandigarh branch of the CBI registered a case of rape under IPC Section 376, criminal intimidation under Section 506 and insult to the modesty of a woman under Section 509
In 2007, the CBI filed its charge sheet in the Special Court at Ambala. The CBI Special Court was later shifted to Panchkula. The two sadhvis deposed before the court stating that Gurmeet sexually exploited them.
The CBI court in 2008 had ordered framing of charges of rape against Gurmeet and the trial began which ended on Friday with the pronouncement of judgment holding him guilty of rape.
The arguments were completed last week on August 17.
The Dera chief consistently termed the charges “false and baseless” and even told the court that he was “not capable of” engaging in physical relations.
Gurmeet is also facing trial in two separate murder cases, those of Dera follower Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who exposed the rapes, in October that same year.
The head of the Sirsa headquartered sect, who turned 50 this Independence Day, holds sway over millions in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.