Agencies
New Delhi, August 25: A CBI special court Friday convicted Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, leading to violence by his supporters across states despite strong military and police presence.
At least 30 people were killed and more than 250 injured in violence in Panchkula and nearby areas of Haryana. Several incidents of arson were reported and some journalists were also targeted in the mayhem.
Trial court judge Jagdeep Singh announced the verdict against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, finding him guilty of raping and sexually exploiting two female disciples, amid unprecedented security arrangements. The case originated in 2002.
This should not have happened. Some people have lost lives and vehicles have been set on fire while government property too has been damaged
Manohar Lal Khattar |
CM, HaryanaThe trouble could have been averted had the Dera supporters been stopped from massing up in one place. The Haryana government should have stopped trains and buses from reaching Panchkula, just as Punjab had done
Capt Amarinder Singh |
CM, Punjab
The case had been taken up based on an anonymous written complaint that said the DSS chief had sexually exploited two of his female followers. The rape victims, despite threats and pressures all along, stood their ground on rape and sexual harassment allegations during the 15-year hearing of the case in court.
The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment Monday (August 28), and, according to CBI counsel HPS Verma, the sentence would be pronounced through video-conferencing. The punishment can be a jail term not less than seven years but may even extend to life imprisonment.
Fifty-year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh ‘Insan’, a self-styled godman who called himself ‘Love Charger’, was present in the court in Panchkula town of Haryana adjoining Chandigarh, when the judgment was read out.
The hearing had stirred up a hornet’s nest and prompted the state and Centre to declare a high alert in Haryana and Punjab. Thousands of supporters of the godman had gathered around the court, unmindful of the security cordon.
Following delivery of the verdict, Ram Rahim Singh was examined by doctors and was reportedly taken to the military complex at Chandi Mandir in Panchkula and later choppered out to Rohtak prison.
A total of 15 incidents of violence were reported within 45 minutes in Punjab and Haryana, after the court verdict became known. Most attacks took place in Sectors 3, 4 and 5, which are all close to the court complex.
The police and paramilitary forces were caught napping and could not react quickly enough and with necessary force to contain violence at the outset. They resorted to tear gas shelling after the godman’s supporters resorted to stone pelting. However, the army moved in quickly and took control of the court complex and took the Dera chief into custody.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday spoke with chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab — Manohar Lal Khattar and Amarinder Singh — and assured them of all help in the wake of violence following the conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
Rajnath held meetings with top officials and took stock of the situation in Punjab and Haryana. “He (Rajnath) spoke with the CMs of both states and assured them of all possible help,” an official said.
PLACES HIT BY VIOLENCE: Panchkula (Haryana), Anand Vihar & Loni (NCR), Sriganganagar (Rajasthan)
JOURNALISTS ATTACKED: The Outdoor Broadcasting vans of three or four television news channels were attacked by the supporters outside the court complex and some were set on fire. A few journalists were injured in the attack, witnesses said. Cameras of photo-journalists and TV cameramen were damaged by the sect followers. Vehicles and buildings, including an income tax office in Mansa in Punjab, were also set on fire.
TRAINS CANCELLED: All trains to and from Jammu were suspended Friday over security concerns ahead of the verdict. Malout and Balluanna railway stations in Punjab were set on fire.
Road to perdition
2002: Anonymous letters written by two female disciples of the godman to then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court was the trigger for the case.
July 2002: Former sect manager, Ranjit Singh, mysteriously murdered allegedly because “he knew too much.”
October 2002: Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati shot dead, allegedly by sect supporters, after he wrote about shady activities inside the sect headquarters near Sirsa in his vernacular newspaper Poora Sach.
November 2003: HC orders a CBI probe.
December 2003: CBI begins probe.
July 2007: CBI files charge sheet.
2007-17: Nearly 200 hearings of the rape case take place over 10 years. The sect chief continued to be on bail granted by the trial court. Petitions in HC and SC delay case being heard by CBI special court.
August 2017: Trial court concludes hearing. Announces August 25 for judgment in the rape and sexual exploitation case. DSS chief is told to be present in court.
The central government claimed to have dispatched about 20,000 paramilitary personnel to Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order. Security was also beefed up in parts of northern India, including New Delhi and Lucknow.