Indian guru convicted of murdering journalist
New Delhi, India - An Indian court convicted a religious sect leader of murdering a journalist after he exposed rampant sexual abuses by the guru.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who headed the powerful Dera Sacha Sauda sect with millions of followers worldwide, is already serving a 20 year prison sentence for rape.
The court on Friday found 51 year old Singh and three of his close aides guilty of killing local newspaper journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002.
Chhatrapati was shot outside his house after his local newspaper published an anonymous letter describing rampant sexual abuse by Singh at his sprawling and luxurious sect headquarters.
Public prosecutor H P S Verma said sentencing would be pronounced on Thursday. The maximum sentence is the death penalty. When Singh was convicted in 2017 of raping two of his disciples, his followers went on the rampage leaving nearly 40 people dead.