Ram Rahim and four others get life imprisonment in Dera manager murder case Panchkula, Monday, October 18th.
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday sentenced Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others to life imprisonment in Dera manager Ranjit Singh’s murder case.
Special CBI Judge Dr Sushil Garg also imposed a fine of Rs 31 lakh on the Dera chief and Rs 50,000 each on other convicts Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh, and Sabdil.
On October 8, the court had sentenced all the prosecuted for the murder of Dera follower Ranjit Singh in 2002 and fixed October 12 for pronouncing the quantum of punishment but after hearing the arguments of both sides, the court had adjourned the sentence till October 18. Another accused, Indrasen had died in the interim period.
The Dera chief was produced in the court through video conferencing from Sunaria Jail of Rohtak, where he is serving a 20-year term for raping two followers while the four other convicts were present in the court. The Dera chief was earlier sentenced to 20 years in prison in the rape case of two followers. Apart from this, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment in the Sirsa journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati murder case. Dera manager Ranjit Singh was shot dead by four assailants at his native Khanpur Kolian Village in Kurukshetra district on July 10, 2002.
According to the CBI charge sheet, the Dera chief had suspected that Ranjit Singh was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter, highlighting sexual exploitation of his female followers in the Dera. Disappointed with the police investigation, the father of Ranjit had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2003, seeking a CBI probe into the murder. After investigating the matter, the CBI registered a case against the accused and framed the charges against him and others in the special CBI court in 2007. There were 250 appearances and testimonies and statements of as many as 61 people were recorded in this case. There were three main witnesses, including eyewitnesses Sukhdev Singh and Joginder Singh, and Khatta Singh, the driver of the Dera chief, in this case. However, Khatta Singh had retracted his statement in the court but after many years, he once again appeared in the court and gave his testimony.
In 2002, a woman wrote to the respective Chief Ministers of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and to the Union Home Minister, CBI, NHRC, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, describing an incident involving Ram Rahim. The Punjab and Haryana High Court sought a report from the District and Sessions Judge of Sirsa, after which Judge MS Sular conducted an inquiry and submitted a report recommending a probe by a central agency.
After the report from Sirsa, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the CBI to probe into the allegations leveled in the letter. The Chandigarh Branch, CBI registered a case of rape under the IPC Section 376, criminal intimidation under Section 506, and insult to the modesty of a woman under 509. This letter was published in Ram Chander Chhatrapati’s four-page Hindi eveninger, Poora Sach in 2002. A CBI probe was ordered into the incident on 24 September 2002. The investigations involved contacting 18 sadhvis who had left the dera by 2002. In the same year, Ram Rahim had charges levied against him for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was writing articles at the time about Dera Sacha Sauda, and for the murder of Dera Sacha Sauda manager Ranjit Singh.
On 25 August 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, delivered its verdict in a sexual assault case regarding a former Dera sadhvi, finding Ram Rahim guilty of two counts of rape. Ram Rahim was taken into custody. More than 200,000 people had gathered near the court premises ahead of the verdict in Panchkula, Haryana. Following the conviction, there were violent protests in different parts of India with reports of widespread vandalism. DSS members were killed in clashes with police and other people were injured as a consequence.
On 26 August 2017, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the police to seize the properties of the group to compensate for the vandalism caused by protests by his supporters. On 28 August 2017, the CBI court sentenced him to a total of 20 years in prison, 10 years for each of the two rape convictions to be served consecutively. Ram Rahim challenged his rape conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Courts on 9 October 2017.
Castration of followers
Ram Rahim has been prosecuted for being involved in enforcing the castration of hundreds of followers; Ram Rahim has denied the charges. On 5 October 2018, he was granted bail by a Panchkula CBI court in the case involving the castration of 400 of his followers.
Murder conviction
In January 2019, Ram Rahim was convicted of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.[64] Chhatrapati was shot in 2002 outside his home after reporting articles on the rape charges facing Ram Rahim. Later on, Chhatrapati’s father gave a letter to police implicating Dera members. On 17 January 2019, Ram Rahim was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special CBI Court along with three other men involved. Ram Rahim challenged his murder conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Courts on 15 March 2019.
