When Ram Rahim kept screaming in Rohtak jail
He would say things like ‘what is my fault’ and ‘what have I done.’ He would cry in the night and request authorities not to keep him under lock
ROHTAK: Rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, or qaidi number 8647, reportedly kept screaming all the time and did not eat anything when he was brought to Rohtak’s Sunaria jail on August 25.
This was revealed by Dalit activist Swadesh Kirad, who has been lodged in the same jail for the past nine months and came out on bail recently.
Kirad, who said he was kept in a cell adjacent to Ram Rahim’s approval cell in the high security jail, claimed he could hear him (dera chief) screaming at night.
“He would say things like ‘what is my fault’ and ‘what have I done.’ He would cry in the night and request authorities not to keep him under lock in the cell because he feels scared,” Kirad said.
Ram Rahim, who is known for living a lavish life, demanded bottled mineral water, which was provided to him from jail canteen, Kirad added.
“All prisoners have their accounts in the jail canteen. He was given bottled mineral water after opening his account. He would not eat jail food, but have fruits that were given to him as per jail manual,” he said.
On the day of sentence (Aug 28), the dera chief got so depressed that he could not even walk, Kirad claimed. “He has maintained a low profile ever since and has not eaten much.” He said Ram Rahim wears a capri and T-shirt inside the prison, though jail superintendent Sunil Sangwan had on the day of his sentence said they would not let him wear his personal clothes anymore.
Kirad said as security was tightened in the Rohtak jail after the dera chief was brought there, other prisoners felt like “they were jailed inside the jail”.
“All our rights were suspended. We could not meet our families, nor talk to them on phone like we used to every day for five minutes. We were also not taken out for court hearings. My bail was sanctioned by the (Punjab and Haryana) high court on August 24, but I had to stay inside for longer,” he said.
The jail authorities, on the other hand, have maintained a complete silence regarding behaviour and activities of the dera chief inside the prison.