Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh to spend minimum 7 years in jail

PANCHKULA: Almost 15-years after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), was accused of sexually exploiting sadhvis (female disciples), a special CBI court on Friday held him guilty of rape and criminal intimidation.

Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh convicted the 50-year-old godman under section 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) o the IPC. The quantum of sentence would be pronounced on Monday after hearing the CBI and the Dera's counsel.

Gurmeet faces a minimum of seven years in jail the maximum punishment for the crime being life term.

Immediately after the holding him guilty under section 376 (rape) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) the judge directed the police to take him into the custody After taking the dera head in to custody, the police shifted him to a specially created jail in Rohtak via special chopper. CBI's public prosecutor HPS Verma told TOI that deposition of two sadhvis became one of the main reason for his conviction. In their statements, both the rape survivors had given complete sequence as how Gurmeet used to rape them inside his "gufa" (underground chamber used as personal residence).

They had also deposed before the trial court that they were threatened for dire con sequences by the dera head if anyone complained about such acts.

Even, the brother of one of such key witnesses was allegedly murdered on directions from the dera head for which he is also facing murder charges.
The matter had first surfaced in 2002, when an anonymous letter was sent to the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee alleging sexual exploitation of sadhvis by Gurmeet. The letter had mentioned that sadhvis were being continuously sexually exploited inside the dera by Gurmeet. Taking suo motu cognizance of the letter, the high court had then handed over the matter to CBI.

Following the court directions, rape case was registered against the dera head on December 12, 2002. Challan was presented against him on July 30, 2007, and charges were framed on September 6, 2008. The final arguments in the case were completed as recently as August 17.

Gurmeet is also facing trial in two murder cases for his alleged involvement in the killing conspiracy of dera manager Ranjit Singh and Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chatterpatti. At present, he was on bail and had been facing trial at Panchkula-based special CBI court via video conferencing from Sirsa.

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