Riots over guru’s sex trial leave 28 dead
MOBS HAVE rampaged across an Indian town, leaving 28 people dead and buildings in flames, after a court declared a quasi-religious sect leader guilty of raping two of his followers.
Security forces used water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowd as more than 15,000 paramilitary troops and police officers were deployed in Panchkula, near Chandigarh.
The violence has left at least 28 dead, including some with bullet wounds, and more than 250 injured, according to officials.
A special court had announced a guilty verdict after hearing closing arguments in the 15-year-old case against the guru, who calls himself Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan.
Ram Rahim Singh – who had denied raping the two women at his ashram in 2002 – was taken into custody and is to be held in a jail in the nearby town of Rohtak in Haryana state until his sentencing hearing on Monday.
Tens of thousands of his followers had camped out overnight in Panchkula awaiting the verdict, and mobs set fire to government buildings and attacked police and TV journalists.
Police initially used tear gas and water cannons and then fired bullets in the air as the mobs vandalised bus stations and government vehicles.
Officers said more than 1,000 of the guru’s supporters had been detained in Panchkula on charges of arson and destruction of public property.
Dilawar Insan, a spokesman for the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, appealed for calm, saying: “I just want to request everyone to maintain peace at the moment. We will explore what legal options are available to us.”
The vegetarian sect claims to have 50 million followers and has also taken up social causes such as organising the weddings of poor couples.
Such sects have huge followings in India, and it is not unusual for leaders to have small, heavily armed private militias protecting them. When the guru, known for his rock-star lifestyle, left his ashram in Sirsa for the hearing, he was accompanied by a 100-vehicle convoy.
Authorities ordered internet and mobile phone services shut down across Haryana and Punjab as a security precaution.