Self styled Indian guru gets 20 years jail for rapes

CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced two sentences of 10 years rigorous imprisonment in each of the two cases that date back to 2002, said defence lawyer S K Garg Narwana.

He said both sentences will run consecutively for a total of 20 years in jail for the flamboyant guru who has millions of followers and counts politicians as well as celebrities as his friends. Singh also fined him Rs 15 lakh in each of the two cases, of which Rs 14 lakh each would go to the two victims who were part of his sect and were coerced into having sex with him.

Defence counsel sought leniency from the court arguing that Ram Rahim was active in social work and had health issues. He said he will appeal against the orders in a high court. The sentence was passed in a special courtroom set up inside the Sunaria jail where Ram Rahim, the 50-year-old self-proclaimed godman, is lodged since last Friday after he was convicted.

Media reports said he broke down and begged for forgiveness with folded hands when the first sentence was passed. 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.

No untoward incident was reported from Sirsa after the pronouncement of the quantum of sentence of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who has been convicted in a rape case, a senior Haryana government official said today.
Speaking to reporters here, IAS officer V Umashankar also said that the district authorities had ordered attachment of the Sirsa-based Dera's accounts and compensation to those affected in the violence could be given from these.
“There was no report of any untoward incident and I hope that peace will be maintained,” Umashankar said.

He said that excluding the permanent residents of the area, many of whom were also Dera followers, the number of others in the sect's headquarters in Sirsa now was not more than a thousand.

He also said that the deputy commissioner of Sirsa had ordered the attachment of the accounts of Dera Sacha Sauda and compensation to the people affected by violence during the episode may be given from these as per court orders.

Umashankar is presently posted as the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), but has been assigned special duty to assist the Sirsa administration, which is on a high alert keeping in view the Dera chief's conviction.
Talking about the possibility of firearms being there in the sect headquarters, Umashankar said that some weapons were in the name of Dera and some were registered in the names of individuals.

He said from the day of Ram Rahim Singh's conviction by a court in Panchkula on August 25, the state authorities had worked to ensure that the violent mob doesn't move towards Sirsa where the Dera is headquartered.