Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Monday awarded two consecutive ten-year jail sentences, totalling 20 years in prison, for rape and criminal intimidation of two followers. He was also fined Rs 30 lakh.
The self-styled godman was in tears and pleaded for mercy as CBI special court Judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced two sentences of 10 years rigorous imprisonment in each of the two cases.
Both the sentences will run consecutively for a total of 20 years, said Defence counsel SK Garg Narwana after the special CBI judge pronounced the sentence in the district jail.
The 50-year-old dera chief, who claims to have millions of followers and counts politicians as well as celebrities as his friends, has been slapped a fine of Rs 15 lakh in each case, with the court ordering that Rs 14 lakh should be paid to each survivor, who were part of his sect and were coerced into having sex with him.
A special courtroom on the premises of Sunaria Jail, Rohtak, was created on the instructions of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, citing security reasons. The judge was brought to Rohtak by a helicopter from Chandigarh and landed at a helipad near the jail located on the outskirts of Rohtak. The special CBI court at Panchkula had on Friday held the Dera chief guilty of rape and criminal intimidation of the two women disciples at the headquarters of his sect at Sirsa in Haryana.
The hearing to decide the quantum of sentence started at 2.30 pm on Monday at the makeship court on the jail premises and the judge gave 10 minutes each to the defence and prosecution sides to make their submission.
The defence counsel sought leniency from the court arguing that Ram Rahim was active in social work and had health issues while the CBI counsel sought maximum punishment for the Dera chief. The prosecution wanted the case to be treated as “rarest of the rare”.
The sect chief has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in each of the two cases of rape. Both the sentences will run consecutively, said sect chief’s counsel SK Garg Narwana after the special CBI judge pronounced the sentence in the district jail. However, he added that the verdict will be challenged in the High Court.
The conviction of the Dera chief on charges of raping two of his women followers had sparked widespread protests across Haryana, in which at least 38 people were killed and over 260 injured. In all, 76 vehicles, including 53 in Panchkula and 23 in Sirsa, were damaged in violence after Friday’s verdict against Ram Rahim.
The case in which Ram Rahim has been convicted and sentenced goes back to 2002 after anonymous letter written by a woman 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.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court took cognisance of the anonymous letter and sought a report from District and Sessions Judge of Sirsa. District judge MS Sular conducted an enquiry and submitted his report recommending probe by a central agency.
After getting the report, the HC had referred the matter to the CBI for probe into the allegations levelled in the letter. In 2007, the CBI filed its chargesheet 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 Ram Rahim sexually exploited them.
The CBI court in 2008 had ordered framing of charges of rape against Gurmeet Ram Rahim and the trial began, which ended on Monday with the pronouncement of qunatum of punishment in the case. The arguments were completed on August 17.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is also facing trial in two separate murder cases -- those of Dera follower Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and of journalist RamChander Chattrapati in October that same year.