‘Guru of bling’ handed 20 years for double rape
Court slaps $47,000 fine; no violence reported
NEW DELHI: On Friday, he had stood defiantly in court when he was convicted of rape, and unleashed his supporters on to northern India’s streets in a deadly rampage. On Monday, the flamboyant guru Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Singh broke down and begged for a pardon as he was jailed for 20 years and fined 3 million rupees ($47,000), virtually ending the guru’s spiritual career.
A judge at a special court set up in Rohtak jail in Haryana state sentenced Singh, 48, to two consecutive 10-year terms for raping two female followers in 2002 at the headquarters of his Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) sect.
A lawyer for the victims said 50 women had come forward with allegations of rape and they wanted further investigations. “We believe there are at least 48 more victims who were sexually abused and who may have been killed or are too scared to come out and testify,” lawyer Utsav Singh Bains said.
Prosecutors had called for a life sentence, a call supported by Jagmati Sangwan, a women’s rights activist in Rohtak.
“Considering that Baba calls himself a holy man and is politically connected, the punishment given to him is less than the crime. He should have got a life term.”
However, Sangwan said: “In the larger context, this is a great victory for Indian democracy.”
Singh, known as the “guru of bling,” claims to have 60 million followers, thousands of whom took to the streets in violent protests when he was convicted on Friday at a court in Panchkula. At least 38 people died and more than 200 were injured as the protesters smashed cars, set fire to buses and attacked police officers.
There was no repeat when Singh was sentenced on Monday, but security authorities took no chances. Twenty-three battalions of paramilitary forces were deployed around Rohtak jail and the army was on standby. The prison was transformed into a fortress, with journalists banned within a 1.5km radius and the roads lined with barbed-wire barricades.
All schools and colleges in the area were shut down and Internet access was suspended throughout the region.
There was also heavy security outside Singh’s 1,000-acre compound in Sirsa, Haryana. Thousands of his supporters were still inside the DSS headquarters, despite many opting to leave following a tense standoff with soldiers.
“The situation in the DSS headquarters remains tense, and no supporter of the guru is willing to talk,” said Surendra Singh, a local journalist in Rohtak who has been covering the court cases since last week.
“But the supporters of the guru are in a state of disbelief at what has happened to the holy man.”
Women’s rights activist Sangwan accused the Haryana state government of shielding the guru.
“It’s sad that Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilash Sharma refused to impose Section 144 on Friday to restrict the large congregation, arguing that the law does not apply to the devotees, it applies to common people.”
She is planning to hold a march on Tuesday with other activists to press for the resignation of the state government.
There is also a question mark over the future of Dera Sacha Sauda. The court has ordered seizure of its property to recover the cost of damage caused by Friday’s riots.
“With political pressures building, there are many members who might leave,” said Ronki Ram of Panjab University’s political science department.
“In the past, sects like Dera Sacha Sauda have survived crises like this, but nothing can be said with certainty.”