Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim repeatedly cried, howled, whimpered and begged for mercy after a special CBI court on Monday sentenced him to 20 years in jail and fined him Rs 30 lakh for raping two of his followers about 15 years ago. The court read out two sentences of 10 years in jail and Rs 15 lakh fine for each of the two cases. Both sentences will run consecutively.
The order came two days after Ram Rahim's conviction triggered large-scale violence and left 38 people dead in Haryana. CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh, who holds the court in Panchkula, flew down by a government helicopter to hear arguments and pronounce the sentence in a special courtroom set up inside Rohtak's Sunaria jail where the self-styled godman was lodged on Friday.
Thousands of soldiers guarded the prison and the Army was on stand-by. Once the proceedings got over, the 50-year-old burly, bearded man, still crying uncontrollably and seeking mercy, refused to leave the court. He had to be dragged out by cops.
The man, who claims to have saved many lives, was heard crying, "koi bacha lo".
At 2:30 PM, a jittery and nervous Ram Rahim, accompanied by two cops, was ushered in the court. Shorn of all the trappings of his blingy avatar, the head of the controversial sect, dressed in plainclothes, stood with folded hands, eyes fixed on the ground.
Within minutes, arguments on the quantum of sentence started with CBI counsel HPS Verma seeking life term in the two rape cases, calling them heinous crimes.
Defence counsel SK Narwana mentioned the "philanthropic work" done by Ram Rahim, and talked about his "poor health". He claimed that the convict was a "public figure who commanded respect among a large number of people", and had done "enough charity work" for the society.
"We will file an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court," said Narwana. The CBI counsel said the agency will seek enhancement of the sentence. The judge had allowed both parties ten minutes to make their arguments.
In the 30 minutes that the hearing continued, Ram Rahim remained uneasy. Once the judge retired inside after the conclusion of the arguments, the Dera chief spoke briefly to his lawyer. After a 30-minute break, the judge reconvened the court. When the sentence was announced, the flamboyant convict, who commands a massive following, broke down and said: "Thoda rehem karo ji (Please show some mercy)".
On Friday, most deaths had happened in Haryana's Panchkula, where the conviction was announced, in large-scale violence, arson and police firing after Ram Rahim's followers rampaged also across Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and NCR to protest the order.
On Monday, Rohtak's residents had been ordered indoors, large gatherings banned and mobile internet services suspended in the city. All schools and colleges in Haryana were closed. Two cases of arson were reported from Sirsa, where the Dera is headquartered.
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