Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Held Guilty in 2002 Rape Case

Panchkula, August 25 : Dera Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Friday held guilty in the 2002 rape case against him. The Panchkula court will decide the quantum of punishment on Monday. The Dera chief could face up to seven years in jail in the rape case. He has been taken into custody by the Haryana Police and moved to Ambala jail.
Following the verdict, power has been cut across Haryana. According to media reports, police is ready with pellet guns near the Panchkula court if the situation goes out of control as lakhs of followers of Ram Rahim have been camping in Panchkula for last three days. The Haryana government had advised Panchkula residents to stay indoors. Haryana and Punjab have been turned into fortress as a Special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Haryana’s Panchkula gave verdict in the rape case against Ram Rahim. In order to maintain law and order situation, 65 CRPF personnel, 10 BSF companies, and around 57,000 police officials are on duty. The Army is also on stand-by to avoid any untoward incident.The rape case against Ram Rahim dates back to 2002. Two women followers of Ram Rahim sent anonymous letters to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing the Dera chief of raping them and other sadhvis in his sprawling Dera campus. The sadhvis also accused Ram Rahim of threatening them and warning them against speaking out.
Following the letter, a case was registered by the CBI against the self-styled godman after allegations of sexual exploitation of the sadhvis. During the investigation, the CBI questioned the sadhvis who had left the Dera. The sadhvis reportedly made shocking allegations against Ram Rahim and two of them accused him of having raped them on account of ‘purity’. The hearing in the case has been on since 2007 when the CBI filed a chargesheet against the Dera chief.