A special CBI court at Panchkula has sentenced Baba Ram Rahim to 20 years jail after convicting him for raping two of his minor followers at his Dera that was called Dera Sacha Sauda. He was convicted in a 15-year old rape case. He is also accused in the murder case of a Sirsa based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
Gurmeet Singh is said to have more than 6 crore followers across North India and abroad. His name was proposed for Padma awards by his followers last year. It was the terror of his followers that the Government was compelled to arrange a makeshift court in Sunaria Prison in Rohtak to his case.
He is said to sterilise more than 400 followers in order to stop them from sexual orientations. In the ongoing searches at his Dera plastic money worth lakhs of rupees has been found along with other things, including luxury cars and lavish villas in the Dera at Sirsa. It may be horrifying to know that many people who raised their voice against the wrongdoings at Dera were killed and buried there.
At least 30 people were killed and more than 250 rendered injured in violence in Haryana’s Panchkula city after a CBI court convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 rape case. Once the news of his conviction was out, thousands of his supporters who had gathered outside the Panchkula court premises, went on a rampage, damaging vehicles, pulling down security barriers, attacking media persons, OB vans and public property.
After the incidents of violence and arson prohibitory orders were imposed in several states, including Delhi.
Rise of Ram Rahim to the position of the chief of the Dera was not a magic but the loopholes of our society are responsible for it. Caste based discrimination rampant in the Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons for the rise of Ram Rahim to the status of a godman. Despite the better per capita income and good economic growth there is a lot of social discrimination. There are about 30 per cent Dalits in the Punjab. In Haryana, Dalits form about 20 per cent of population.
Political shelter was another factor that made Dera Sacha Sauda and its chief Ram Rahim influential in the Punjab and Haryana. It began in 2007. By this time, Ram Rahim, after taking over in 1990, had made his Dera popular and increased the number of followers from a few thousand to a few crores. In 2007, Ram Rahim founded the political wing of the Dera Sacha Sauda. The same year, the Congress sought its support in the Punjab Assembly elections.
In 2009, Ram Rahim supported Congress in 2009 Haryana Assembly polls. But, then he changed his mind and started supporting the BJP – in 2012 Punjab election and 2014 Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly polls. Senior political leaders allegedly paid visit to Ram Rahim’s Dera and made huge donation.
In 2002, CBI registered a case against Ram Rahim after two of his women followers wrote many letters, levelling charges of sexual exploitation against him. The hearing had been going on since 2007. One thing is pertinent to say that he is not the only self-styled godman whose name is involved in controversies or in criminal cases.
Here is a list of self-styled godmen who are accused of serious criminal cases:
Asaram: Presently lodged at Jodhpur Prison is accused in connection with a rape case. Parents a minor girl had lodged a rape case against him in Delhi in 2013.
According to the complaint lodged on August 20, 2013, Asaram had raped the then 16-year-old girl on the pretext of giving her his blessings at his ashram in Jodhpur. After his arrest, other victims narrated their stories and reported similar incidents.
In another case a Surat based woman accused Asaram of raping her many times when she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city between 1997 and 2006.
Asaram allegedly assaulted many victims, including minors as well as ‘sevikas’ from his ashram, reports said.
Narayan Sai: He is accused of having physical relations with eight other girls. Narayan Sai was accused of rape and sexual assault. He is sent to jail for the rape and assault on a woman at one of Asaram’s ashrams between 2002 and 2005.
In November 2016, a female journalist filed a case against Asharam’s son Narayan Sai for sexually assaulting her when she had gone to interview him for a local TV channel.
Sant Rampal: Presently lodged in Ambala Jail, he is accused of rape and murder. Rampal was arrested on November 19, 2014 from his ashram, spread over 12 acres in Hisar district. During the standoff between Rampal’s followers and the police, five women and an infant had died, while more than 200 people were injured in the clashes.
He was wanted in a murder case for which he had been evading appearance in the court. According to reports, he shared sexual relationships with select female followers whom he called ‘sadhikayaen’.
Swami Nithyananda: Around March 2010, a video of Nithyananda surfaced on local news channels wherein he was seen engaged in sexual acts with a television actress. He had defended himself at the time, saying he was merely ‘practising the shavasana’ at the time and that he was impotent. He was also accused of rape by a former disciple at his premises.
Mehndi Kasim: The special court for women’s cases convicted a 43-year-old self-styled godman for raping seven girls and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Kasim was arrested in 2010 and was found guilty of rape, causing miscarriage and criminal intimidation.
According to the prosecution, Kasim knew a family where all four sisters have mentally challenged sons apart from (normal) daughters. He promised to cure the boys and asked their mothers to send to him their daughters to him as well for ‘treatment’, so that they don’t give birth to mentally challenged sons in future.
Baba More Singh Thakur: The self-styled godman was sentenced for two years rigorous imprisonment in a case of sexual assault on a Dalit woman. Thakur was convicted under IPC Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and relevant sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, after examining the evidences and going through the material on record.
Swami Om: He was arrested in a case filed by his brother who had accused the former Big Boss contestant of stealing bicycles along with some documents from his shop nine years ago, police said.
Vinodanand Jha, also known as Swami Om, was declared a proclaimed offender by the Saket Court in Delhi, the police said. In November 2008, an FIR was registered at Lodhi Colony police station against him on a complaint by his younger brother Pramsod Jha.