A judge sentenced a self-styled “god man’ in north India to 20 years in jail on Monday for raping two young girls in 2002.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a 50-year-old guru who claims a cult following of more than 60 million for his Dera Sacha Suada, or Place of Truth, ashram in northern Haryana state will serve two 10-year terms consecutively for each rape, special judge Jagdeep Singh ruled.
The judgment was delivered at a special court in Rohtak, 60km north of New Delhi, which was locked down by thousands of armed police and paramilitary personnel to prevent the rioting and chaos that erupted last Friday at nearby Panchkula, when Singh was found guilty.
Some 38 of his devotees were shot dead by police and some 200 others were injured, as they burnt vehicles, stormed private homes and attacked buses, trains and journalists in Panchkula and surrounding areas in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab states.
Security around the Rohtak court, and in the region where Singh’s followers live, was reinforced by the Indian army.
A curfew was imposed in several districts in the surrounding region and the assembly of more than four persons, even in the federal capital New Delhi, was prohibited as a precautionary measure.
Begged for mercy
Officials said Singh cried and begged for mercy after his sentence was pronounced and lay down on the courtroom floor, refusing to get up. He said he was innocent and appealed to the judge to reduce his sentence by taking his ashram’s “philanthropic” activities into account.
Singh also reportedly grabbed the leg of a nearby table and had to be forcibly carried away to his prison cell by court officials and jail staff.
He is also charged with ordering the murder of a local newspaper editor in 2002 for exposing deviant activities at his ashram around the time when the rapes took place, and for castrating some 400 of his disciples to bring them “closer to god”.
Judgments in both cases are imminent.
Singh describes himself as a saint, philosopher, actor, sportsman, singer, movie director and writer.
In 2015 he scripted Messenger of God, a film in which he played the lead role of a messiah battling the forces of evil by hurling burning motorcycles at his enemies.
Some years ago Singh even challenged Punjab’s Sikh community by dressing up and emulating their tenth guru Gobind Singh.
Details of Singh’s activities show that he presided over an operation run through a combination of fear, intimidation and blackmail.
The accounts of the two victims – who were minors when they were raped in 2002 – hint at the deviancy prevalent inside the ashram for decades.
Singh, however, enjoyed political patronage from successive provincial governments which he helped secure power in state elections by “ordering” his devotees to vote for them.
This patronage managed to delay prosecution in addition to providing Singh the highest category security, which entitled him to round-the-clock police protection by commandoes until his luck ran out last week.
