Honeypreet's bail plea rejected by court

A court here rejected today the bail plea of Honeypreet Insan, who was arrested eight months ago in connection with the violence that followed the conviction of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for rape.

"The court has dismissed her bail plea, but we are yet to get the copy of the order," her counsel said.

Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, claims to be adopted daughter of the jailed sect leader.


She had sought bail on various grounds including that Haryana Police had found no evidence against her, her lawyer said.

While the prosecution had opposed her bail plea, the defence counsel had argued that 15 people arrested in connection with the incidents of violence in Panchkula last year, had been given bail by different courts.

After being on the run for a brief period, she was arrested in October last year in connection with the violence that followed Singh's rape conviction on August 25, which left 41 people dead and scores injured.

37-year-old Honeypreet was in the list of 43 people "wanted" by the state police in connection with the violence.

Her name has been included in an FIR in which Dera functionaries Aditya Insan and Surinder Dhiman, among others, had been booked on charges of sedition, inciting violence and arson, the police had said earlier.

The Dera chief has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two women and is now lodged in jail in Sunaria in Rohtak district.