Riots after guru convicted of rape

NEW DELHI (AP) — The millions of followers of the flashy Indian guru consider him the embodiment of God on Earth.

So when he was convicted of rape Friday, tens of thousands of supporters responded with fury, setting off riots that left more than two dozen dead and buses, trains and buildings set on fire. Police said calm was eventaully restored.

When he appears in a “darshan,” or audience, once a week at his ashram in Haryana state’s Sirsa town, the guru of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, who calls himself Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, makes his followers weep and clap and flatten themselves to the ground at the sight of him. The sect claims as many as 50 million followers.

Like many spiritual leaders who find blind devotion in the still largely conservative nation of 1.3 billion, the 50-year-old promotes vegetarianism, campaigns against drug addiction and holds massive blood donation camps.

The burly, bearded Insan, who according to the sect’s website was born to a wealthy landowner in Rajathan, became the sect’s third guru when he was anointed in 1990 at age 23 as the reincarnation of the previous leader.

Friday’s conviction isn’t his only brush with the law.

He’s facing other criminal investigations as well. There’s an ongoing trial over the murder of a journalist. He is also under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation over allegations of forcing several male followers to undergo castrations to bring them closer to God. He has denied the accusations.

His massive following makes him a powerful political asset and leaders across the political spectrum court him. His power has also earned him powerful enemies, and he enjoys the highest level of state security in addition to his own personal bodyguards.