Two women disciples, who were raped by jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, have moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking life imprisonment for the sect head, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
A special CBI court in Panchkula had on August 28 sentenced Ram Rahim to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (10 years in each rape case) and a fine of over Rs 30 lakh after his conviction in two rape cases.
The dera chief who is currently lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak district, was convicted by the CBI court on August 25, following which violence and arson had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa districts leaving 41 people dead and over 260 injured.
In their petition filed before the High Court here, the two sadhvis, who were raped by the self-styled godman in 1999, have said the 10-year jail term to the Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief in each case of rape was not enough for the heinous crime he committed.
The victims have pointed out in their petition that in rape cases where a person in a position of authority or power misuses that position to commit rape, he should be given maximum punishment - which is life imprisonment.
“Gurmeet is head of religious organisation known as Dera and had committed a grave breach of trust and he was called Pitaji (father). Abusing his position as religious head, in whom the followers had blind faith, he committed rape,” the petition stated.
The victims have said that a lesser punishment would not achieve “the ends of justice”.
Under the provisions introduced after the 2012 gang rape and murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi, a person in position of power and trust faces a maximum of life imprisonment for rape.
“A revision petition has been filed on Wednesday in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the enhancement of sentence for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to life imprisonment in rape case,” said victims’ counsel Navkiran Singh while talking to the mediapersons.
“In this case, the Dera sect chief was considered as ‘Pita Ji’ (father) by his followers. Victims were under emotional and physical custody of the dera chief and he broke their trust and misused his position as a religious and spiritual leader. Therefore, we sought life imprisonment instead of 20-year sentence,” added he.
Notably, the jailed sect chief had on September 25 also moved the High Court, challenging the special CBI court’s verdict sentencing him to 20 years in prison.
Ram Rahim’s counsel had said that there was a delay of more than six years in recording the statements of the women (victims) by the CBI after the incident. The CBI had claimed that the two women followers were sexually exploited in 1999 and the agency recorded their statement in 2005, his counsel had said in the petition.
The case in which Ram Rahim had been convicted and sentenced, goes back to 2002 after anonymous letter written by a female follower alleging rape became public. The rape victims, despite threats and pressures all along, stood their ground on rape and sexual harassment allegations during nearly 15-year-long hearing of the matter in court.